ABOARD FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER CHARLES DE GAULLE: France and its allies are preparing a “defensive” mission to reopen the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday as the Middle East war entered its second week. The French leader landed by helicopter on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, dispatched to the Mediterranean after US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 triggered a war that has sown regional chaos and which threatens to spill into other parts of the world.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that France and its allies are preparing a “purely defensive” naval mission to help restore maritime...

Speaking from Cyprus, an EU country that was struck by Iranian-made drones, Emmanuel Macron said the 'purely defensive, purely support mission' would be aimed at escorting…