French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation on Tuesday about the situation in the Middle East, four days into a war that U.S. President Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks, but perhaps longer.
Macron, who on Monday warned that an escalating war between the United States, Israel and Iran risks spilling over to Europe’s borders, will deliver a televised address to the nation at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT).
During a meeting of France’s defense council on Sunday, the French president said France would raise its defense posture in the Middle East to protect its citizens and bases there, and to support countries in the region that are targeted by Iran in retaliation for Israeli-US attacks.
Read moreLive: Tehran’s Mehrabad airport and Iranian missile production centers under new attacks
Earlier on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France had deployed Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its naval and air bases.
France has hundreds of navy, air force and army personnel based in the United Arab Emirates. Its Rafale aircraft are parked at the Al-Dhafra base near Abu Dhabi.
“These Rafale and their pilots are mobilized to ensure the security of our facilities,” Barrot told broadcaster BFMTV in response to a question about French action in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend to neutralize Iranian drones.
“They have carried out operations to secure the airspace above our bases.”
On Sunday, “a drone hit a hangar at a French base in the United Arab Emirates,” Barrot said.
“The exchanges are multiplying to determine how the country can defend itself against future attacks and how France can protect its interests there,” he added.
However, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was in the North Atlantic, as part of a previously planned multinational exercise, Barrot said, after being asked if it had been sent to the Mediterranean.
The United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran has responded by attacking US allies in the Gulf region.
Debris from a drone intercept sparked a fire that was contained at an oil industrial area in the emirate of Fujairah on Tuesday, authorities said.
In Abu Dhabi, a drone crashed into a fuel tank terminal on Monday, causing a fire, although operations were not affected.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
