France to deploy nearly a dozen warships, mulls Hormuz mission, Macron says
France is sending about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and potentially the Strait of Hormuz, as part of defensive support for allies threatened by the Middle East conflict. Speaking in Cyprus before visiting the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which arrived this weekend in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron sought to reassure his Cypriot counterpart after drones were intercepted approaching the island last week. "When Cyprus is attacked, then Europe is attacked," Macron said after meeting President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos. European states have largely been sidelined as the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran has escalated, affecting Gulf Arab states and drawing Lebanon into the line of fire after Hezbollah attacked Israel. With Middle Eastern shipping lanes disrupted and oil prices surging above $100 a barrel, European...