France deploys carrier in Iran war as Spain balks

What happened

Europe Tuesday was drawn further into the U.S.-Israel war against Iran, as the conflict continues to spread in the Middle East, roiling global markets and sending oil and gas prices higher. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was sending the Charles De Gaulle nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean to protect French and allies’ assets from missiles and drones from Iran and its proxy militias. President Donald Trump Tuesday threatened to “cut off all trade with Spain” after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the U.S. could not use air bases in Spain for its “unjustified and dangerous military intervention“ in Iran.

Who said what

France’s flagship aircraft carrier will join “Rafale fighter jets, air-defense systems and airborne radar systems” deployed to protect Cyprus, an EU member already hit by a Hezbollah drone, and help uphold “binding” defense agreements with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, The Associated Press said. France, Britain and Germany “previously said that they weren’t involved” in the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. But Macron said Tuesday that France had already shot down Iranian drones “in legitimate self-defense.”

Sánchez, meanwhile, has become the “chief EU critic of Trump’s strikes on Iran,” Politico said, and Trump “has certainly noticed.” Spain “has been terrible,” Trump told reporters Tuesday during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “All business having to do with Spain, I have the right to stop it. Embargoes — do anything ⁠I want with it — and we may do that with Spain.”

What next?

The French carrier deployment is part of Macron's effort toward “building a coalition” that will pool resources — including military assets — to “resume traffic in the Strait of Hormuz,” said The Wall Street Journal. It will also focus on “securing the Red Sea and Suez Canal.”

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