France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier group is moving into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden as part of efforts by France and Britain to prepare for a future mission to help freedom of navigation on the Strait of Hormuz, France's military said on Wednesday.
The French Armed Forces ministry said in a statement that the aircraft carrier group had crossed the Suez Canal on Wednesday, en route to the south of the Red Sea.
This French aircraft carrier strike group was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the US and Israel launched air strikes on Iran, and it can stay at sea for between four to five months.
France and Britain are spearheading efforts to lead an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, when conditions permit.
Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz - through which passes nearly a fifth of the world's oil - has been severely disrupted by the conflict with Iran.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
