French Carrier Enters Red Sea for Hormuz Navigation Mission

France's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its strike group transited the Suez Canal on Wednesday and entered the southern Red Sea, moving closer to the Strait of Hormuz to prepare for a potential multinational mission aimed at restoring freedom of navigation in the key shipping route, the French Defense Ministry announced.

The repositioning places Europe's most powerful warship within striking distance of the strait, through which nearly one-fifth of the world's crude oil typically passes. Commercial traffic has halted since Iran closed the waterway on March 4 in retaliation for joint U.S. and Israeli strikes that began February 28 and killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The blockade has triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market, according to the International Energy Agency. War-risk insurance premiums for the strait have risen four to five times above pre-conflict levels, and around 2,000 ships remain stranded in the Gulf.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading planning for the defensive mission, which involves more than 40 countries. Military planners from over...