Zürcher Nachrichten - Macron to visit Cyprus as French warships deploy to counter Iran threat

Macron will meet his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos to show "solidarity" and detail moves to "strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean", the Elysee said on Sunday.

The visit will take place as the war pitting the US and Israel against Iran is in its second week, affecting much of the Middle East.

Cyprus on Monday was targeted by Iranian-made drones, leading Macron to order France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean and a frigate and air defence units to Cyprus.

"This trip is intended to demonstrate France's solidarity with Cyprus, a member state of the European Union with which we have a strategic partnership" and which was recently hit "by several drones and missile strikes", the Elysee said.

Macron said later he had spoken with his US and Iranian counterparts Sunday ahead of the trip.

The first Western leader to speak with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian since the outbreak of the war, Macron said on X that he "stressed the need for Iran to immediately cease its strikes against countries in the region".

He also urged Iran to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. He gave no details of his conversation with US President Donald Trump.

- Hormuz Strait security -

France has insisted its stance in the region is "strictly defensive".

The visit to Cyprus will also allow Macron "to emphasise the importance of guaranteeing freedom of navigation and maritime security in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, in particular through the European Union's Aspides maritime operation", it added.

Numerous attacks have struck ships navigating the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Gulf, since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on February 28.

A government spokesman for Cyprus, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, said the visit would allow the leaders of Cyprus, Greece, and France to assess the "high level of coordination" between their nations.

Letymbiotis also highlighted the role of Italy, which like the United Kingdom, has deployed a warship to Cyprus.

On Sunday, Macron wrote on X that he had also spoken with the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and the presidents of Egypt and Azerbaijan.

Discussing the region with the Qatari ruler, Macron said he highlighted France's "defensive military support", particularly in the air, which he noted was deployed to the "benefit of Qatar".

"Qatar and France share the same conviction: beyond the clamour of arms, lasting stability for all must come through de-escalation and negotiation," Macron added.

Macron also said he offered France's "support and solidarity" to Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev after a drone strike on the country, which neighbours Iran, raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus.

With Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, he discussed "the important of securing as quickly as possible the maritime transport in the Red Sea", including for energy resources, Macron said on X.

R.Bernasconi--NZN