French naval forces are accompanying ships with French interests through the Red Sea region, the country's top naval commander in the area said on Thursday, adding that Paris' current mandate did not include striking Houthi rebels directly.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been targeting Red Sea shipping routes © Mena Today
French naval forces are accompanying ships with French interests through the Red Sea region, the country's top naval commander in the area said on Thursday, adding that Paris' current mandate did not include striking Houthi rebels directly.
The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been targeting Red Sea shipping routes to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which is fighting Israel in Gaza.
Speaking to reporters, Rear-Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, joint commander of French forces in the region, said France was working closely with the US-led Prosperity Guardian mission in the area by exchanging information and carrying out patrols, but said command of French forces remained entirely under Paris' control.
"The French operation consists of on the one hand patrolling the maritime zones where the Houthis operate to stop them," Slaars said. "These patrols are in coordination with the Prosperity Guardian operation," he said.
"On the other hand, we regularly escort French-flagged ships or with French interests in the Red Sea. We accompany them all along their crossing."
Slaars, who also heads the EU's mission of nine countries operating in the Strait of Hormuz, said there was always a need for more military assets in the region, although France did not intend to deploy more for now.
He said international military operations were producing results and that 80% of container traffic was still going through the Bab Al-Mandab straits between Yemen and Djibouti.
Reporting by John Irish; editing by Sharon Singleton
An apparent drone attack - claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia - hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, called Iran's newly elected President Massoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday to congratulate him on his recent election victory, according to Saudi state media reports.
Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Wednesday that disruption to its container shipping via the Red Sea had extended beyond trade routes between the Far East and Europe to its entire global network.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.