Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday ordered France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ‘Charles de Gaulle’ to redeploy from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean in a move to protect allied assets amid the worsening war in the Middle East.
In a pre-recorded speech aired on French TV, Macron explained the carrier will travel with escort frigates and its full air wing. He noted France has sent Rafale fighter jets, air-defence systems, and airborne radar to the region in recent hours.
“And we will continue this effort as much as necessary,” Macron said.
France, the UK, and Germany have denied taking part in last week’s US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Yet they were prepared to take defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to launch missiles and drones.
Macron disclosed French forces downed drones “in legitimate self-defense in the very first hours of the conflict, to defend the airspace of our allies, who know they can rely on us,” he said.
He offered no further details.
The redeployment of ‘Charles de Gaulle’ follows Monday’s drone attack on a British air base in Cyprus. Highlighting Cyprus as an EU member with a new strategic partnership from France, Macron said: “This requires our support.”
France also has defence pacts binding it to Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. It maintains firm commitments to Jordan and Iraq too.
Macron blamed Iran-backed Hezbollah for the war spilling over to Lebanon. They made “the grave mistake of striking Israel” and endangered Lebanese civilians, he said. He, however, cautioned Israel against making a ground offensive there. “This, too, would be a dangerous escalation and a strategic error,” he added. “Hezbollah must imperatively cease all strikes, and I call on Israel to respect Lebanese territory and its integrity,” he said.
Macron made it amply clear that his nation “cannot approve” of the US-Israel strikes on Iran as they fell outside the framework of “international law.”
