A European-led maritime mission to monitor Gulf waters will be stationed at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi, the French defense minister said on Sunday, November 24.
Since May, tensions in the Gulf have escalated following a string of attacks on oil tankers that the United States and its allies blamed on Iran.
Iran, which has denied any responsibility for the attacks, has put forward its own proposals for boosting Gulf security that pointedly exclude outside powers.
“We formally agreed that the command center of the European maritime surveillance initiative will be on UAE territory,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told AFP.
It will be run by around 10 to 15 staff members deployed at the French naval base in Abu Dhabi who will “contribute to making maritime navigation in the Gulf as safe as possible,” she said on a visit to the base.
Parly did not identify the countries that would be joining the mission, saying that some were still waiting for their respective parliaments to ratify their participation in the initiative.
France ‘will coordinate with the Americans’
Earlier this month, a U.S.-led maritime coalition launched Operation Sentinel to provide protection to shipping in Gulf waters. Based in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, the new mission will see vessels escorted by naval ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint at the head of the Gulf and the main artery for the maritime transport of Middle East oil.
Although the United Kingdom has joined the new U.S.-led coalition, other European governments have declined to take part, fearful of undermining their efforts to save the landmark 2015 JCPOA nuclear accord with Iran. Animosity between Tehran and Washington has soared since President Donald Trump last year unilaterally abandoned the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal and reimposed crippling U.S. sanctions.
“I would like to add that we are not subtracting anything, we are adding, as a number of countries would not have participated in the American initiative anyway,” Parly said on Saturday at the annual Manama Dialogue on regional security.
But on Sunday Parly said France “will coordinate with the Americans.”
Global News 
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