An armed intervention from France in the Strait of Hormuz is out of the question, confirms French.

France’s involvement “with armed means in the Strait of Hormuz is obviously out of the question,” confirms Alice Rufo on Wednesday, March 18 on France Inter, the delegate minister to the Minister of the Armed Forces. Donald Trump is pressuring allied countries to help the United States secure the strait in the midst of the war with Iran.

The American president was met with France’s refusal, with Emmanuel Macron emphasizing on Tuesday that it was out of the question for France to engage in these operations “in the current context” of “bombardments,” but once the situation calms down “more,” they could participate in “escorts” of ships in this strategic passage for the global economy.

“Military intervention, the use of force, is always decided sovereignly,” emphasizes Alice Rufo. Even if the “restoration of freedom of movement and established maritime security” in the Strait of Hormuz represent “a global interest,” it is “out of the question” to participate in “an intervention with armed means,” she says. “It would be participating in the offensive. However, we did not choose the war waged by Israel and the United States, so there is no reason to participate,” explains the delegate minister to the Minister of the Armed Forces.

On the other hand, France “does not remain inactive either,” she notes, as they proceed with “a very significant maritime deployment in the region, in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea,” and “works with partners in the Indo-Pacific, especially India, to ensure that tension levels decrease so that maritime freedom of movement can return.”

For example, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is currently “in the eastern Mediterranean, providing support to our partners, notably Cyprus,” and other ships are deployed in the Red Sea to “allow the passage of commercial vessels with escorts,” as part of a European Union operation. These means allow France to defend itself because “it is powerful when France deploys, it is deterrent when France deploys,” assures the delegate minister.