French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to move from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean to help protect allied assets during the war in the Middle East. Macron said the Charles de Gaulle carrier will be escorted by frigates and its air wing. In a prerecorded speech on French TV, Macron added that Rafale fighter jets, air-defense systems and airborne radar systems have been deployed over the past few hours in the Middle East.

 

France, the U.K. and Germany have previously said that they weren’t involved in the strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel that began late last week, but were prepared to take defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones.