Now French Navy sails to the rescue! Macron’s warm welcome in Cyprus as he vows to protect Strait of Hormuz

Britain was embarrassed by France when Emmanuel Macron ordered an ‘unprecedented’ deployment to the Mediterranean and Middle East.

While Britain struggled to mobilize even a single warship, the French president made a show of diplomatic power.

He made plans against French ships to protect the Strait of Hormuz trade route, which was closed by Iran, causing the world oil to be blockaded and prices to rise rapidly yesterday.

And it was warmly welcomed in Cyprus, where hundreds of British families at RAF Akrotiri had to shelter from Iranian suicide planes.

While the events were taking place in the international arena, England fell behind once again yesterday. Mr Macron was embraced by his Cypriot counterpart on the tarmac after the presidential plane stopped at Paphos airport, with Defense Secretary John Healey admitting there was a further delay in sending the destroyer HMS Dragon to the war zone.

Mr. Macron has pledged to protect the 25-mile-long Strait of Hormuz by sending a fleet of eight ships, where they are expected to join U.S. forces; but this only occurred ‘after the hottest phase of the conflict had ended’.

While the Royal Navy stayed at home despite a drone attack on Akrotiri on the second day of the conflict, the French president, in an apparent slap at Keir Starmer, said: ‘An attack on Cyprus is an attack on all of Europe.’

Meanwhile, Mr Healey said the £1bn HMS Dragon will spend at least two more days in Portsmouth before setting off. It is then expected to take a week to reach Cyprus; Italian, French, Spanish and Dutch ships may be in place at this point.

Patriot: Emmanuel Macron sings France’s anthem on the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in Cyprus

The RAF seized unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to Iranian forces and their proxies. Defense sources last night confirmed engagement over Jordan and Bahrain.

It is understood that the attack submarine HMS Anson was also diverted towards the Middle East from exercises in Australia.

But Downing Street sources have been forced to quash speculation that HMS Prince of Wales will sail to the Middle East.

The £3.5bn aircraft carrier had been brought to an advanced state of readiness, but Mr Trump told Britain on Saturday: ‘We don’t need people fighting wars after we’ve already won them!’

Other developments from yesterday:

• The war threatened to push Britain into a new cost-of-living crisis, with oil, energy bills and mortgage rates rising.
• Horrified Tehran residents told the Daily Mail they feared the new radical Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei would turn out to be ‘as bad as his father’.
• A US intelligence assessment conducted before the start of the war found that military intervention alone was unlikely to lead to regime change in the Islamic Republic.
• Putin offered his unwavering support to the new religious leader and warned that “the world is ending.”
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s dominant military, economic and political power, said last night that oil tankers from any Arab or European country that has expelled Israeli and US ambassadors will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz from today.
• Türkiye’s defense ministry said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile that entered the country’s airspace after being fired by its former allies in Tehran.
• President Trump has praised Australia after five members of the Iranian women’s football team were granted asylum after they were branded ‘traitors’ for taking a stand against the regime.
• An audit of UK universities has found that 27 students publicly mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war.

The French President also ordered French Navy ships to the Strait of Hormuz in an ‘unprecedented’ attempt to combat skyrocketing oil prices.

He is preparing to deploy eight frigates, two amphibious helicopter carriers and the country’s flagship Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Middle East.

Macron said on Monday: ‘We are in the process of establishing a defensive, purely escort mission together with European and non-European states to provide escort as soon as possible for container ships and tankers to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz.’

The passage, through which 20 percent of the world’s natural gas and oil passes, was almost completely closed after Iran vowed to open fire on passing ships.

The UK has seen gas returns fall from 18,000 GWh to just 6,700 GWh; The UK currently pays the highest wholesale gas price in Europe.

Sir Keir Starmer criticized for refusing to join war effort against Iran

It comes as pressure mounts on Sir Keir, who steadfastly refused to join the war on Iran on 28 February.

The decision sparked a rift between the Labor leader and Trump, who told the Briton “there is no Winston Churchill” in a bombshell press conference last week.

The two men held crisis talks on Sunday afternoon for the first time since the fight began, after harshly criticizing each other for their contradictory stances.

In a surprising outburst late on Saturday, Trump lashed out at Sir Keir for accepting defense aid only when Washington was attacking Tehran alongside Israel.

Using his Truth Social platform, he warned that the US would ‘remember’ the lack of support from ‘our once great ally’ and suggested that the Prime Minister was trying to join in after the war had already been won.

In response, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper responded by saying ‘diplomacy via social media is not our style’ and said it was not in the UK’s interests to ‘outsource our foreign policy’.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves later called on both sides to ‘de-escalate tensions’ at a meeting in the House of Commons on Monday, where she expressed fears motorists could face record fuel prices.

The barrel price of oil rose above $100 for the first time in years, and supply was threatened by attacks on the infrastructure of major producers in the region.

Ms Reeves said she was ‘taking action to ensure people pay the lowest possible price at the pump’ and also promised to hold a meeting of MPs focused on heating oil prices.

He added: ‘I recognize that households using heating oil face unique challenges and that is why I have asked the Treasury Secretary to lead discussions with officials and rural and Northern Ireland MPs to explore further steps we can take, and these meetings will take place on Wednesday.’