Kazem Gharibabadi said on Sunday that France had announced that it had dispatched the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for a joint mission with the United Kingdom with the alleged aim of “strengthening freedom of navigation”. He also said that Britain is also sending a warship to the region.

The deputy Iranian foreign minister emphasized that, “The deployment of ships from beyond the region around the Strait of Hormuz, claiming to protect shipping, is “escalating the crisis and militarizing a vital waterway.”

Gharibabadi considered the source of insecurity in the region to be “illegal use of force, threats to littoral states, and is a kind of naval blockade.”

He clarified that, “The Strait of Hormuz is not a property shared with powers from beyond the region, and Iran, as a littoral state, has the right to exercise sovereignty and determine its legal arrangements.”

The deputy foreign minister further warned, the presence of ships from France, Britain, or any other country to accompany the illegal actions of the United States in the Strait of Hormuz will be met with a “decisive and immediate response” from the Iranian armed forces.

MNA/6825925