European states move to secure Red Sea navigation, protect Cyprus

European powers said ⁠on Thursday they would work together to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea and send naval and other assets to protect Cyprus as the expanding US-Iran war entered its sixth day.

The conflict – which has widened beyond Gulf states to the Mediterranean, where a drone strike hit a British airbase on Cyprus on Monday, and as far afield as Asia – has convulsed global markets and sent oil and gas prices soaring.

Italy, ‌Spain, France and the Netherlands will send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days, Rome’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with the prime ministers of Italy and Greece on Thursday and “they all agreed to step up cooperation to safeguard shipping in the Red Sea and to coordinate the dispatch of military assets to Cyprus”, a senior source said.

The plans ruled out any direct involvement in the war, underlining the delicate balance European governments are seeking to strike over the conflict involving their long-term ally the United States.

“We are not ⁠at war and we do not want to enter a war,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a radio interview on Thursday.