The move follows fighting involving Iran that has choked tanker traffic in the waterway and came after Cyprus, where Macron spoke, was hit by drone and missile attacks last week, pushing Paris to tie regional defense to the eventual reopening of a trade route it says is effectively closed.
In an official readout of Macron’s Cyprus visit, the Élysée said France’s goals are to protect nationals, support allies and preserve freedom of navigation in a strictly defensive posture. Macron said the mission being prepared with partner states would escort container ships and tankers once the most intense phase of the conflict eases, allowing the Strait of Hormuz to reopen gradually.
Reuters reported that France’s regional presence will be built around the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, eight frigates and two amphibious helicopter carriers, spanning the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and waters off Hormuz. Paris also plans to lift its contribution to the EU naval mission Aspides from one frigate to two.
Why the Strait of Hormuz matters
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says about 20 million barrels of oil a day moved through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024, equal to about 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption. With limited bypass capacity, even a short disruption can ripple through fuel prices, freight costs and insurance markets.
The commercial shock is already visible. Reuters’ tanker traffic analysis showed daily tanker passages through the waterway fell to zero from 37 at the start of the current war, a stark indicator of why European governments are treating the crisis as an economic security problem as well as a military one.
How France wants to secure the Strait of Hormuz
France is not starting from scratch. The EU recently extended Operation Aspides, a defensive maritime mission created to protect vessels and safeguard freedom of navigation across the Red Sea and surrounding waters, including monitoring the maritime situation around Hormuz.
That framework gives Paris a familiar template. French officials are casting the proposed Strait of Hormuz escort effort as a limited protection mission for merchant shipping, not an open-ended combat campaign, while they try to line up enough European and non-European partners to make escorts credible once conditions allow.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis has a longer European backstory
Europe’s current debate did not begin with this month’s escalation. After Iran seized the British-flagged Stena Impero in 2019, European governments began backing the idea of a European-led naval protection mission designed to secure commercial traffic without folding directly into Washington’s pressure campaign.
That thinking turned into policy in early 2020, when France helped kickstart the European Maritime Awareness mission in the Strait of Hormuz, or EMASOH, built around surveillance, reassurance and de-escalation. The new French push follows the same logic, but on a much larger scale and under far more dangerous conditions.
Whether Paris can turn that idea into a workable escort force now depends on how quickly partners commit ships and political backing. For Europe, the central question is whether a coalition can reopen the Strait of Hormuz without widening the war.
