France's aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle was on Wednesday heading towards the southern Red Sea to pre-position for a possible mission to restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the presidency and defence ministry said.

The move was intended to send "a signal that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz but that we are also capable of doing so", one of the aides to President Emmanuel Macron told reporters.

Traffic in the strategic waterway, through which around one-fifth of the world's crude oil normally transits, has all but stopped since conflict erupted in the Middle East in late February.

Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are leading a multinational mission to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, which they say would be entirely defensive and only deployed once lasting peace in the region was agreed.

The flagship of the French navy and its escorts were on Wednesday transiting through the Suez Canal en route to the southern Red Sea, the defence ministry said.

The decision was intended "to reduce the time needed to implement this initiative as soon as circumstances allow", the ministry said.

More than 40 countries have begun military planning in London towards the Hormuz mission.

According to the Macron aide, "the reason we must now make a renewed effort is quite simply that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continues, the damage to the global economy is becoming increasingly severe, and the risk of prolonged hostilities is too serious for us to accept".

'Common interest'
France has proposed to the United States and Iran that they "deal with the issue of the Strait of Hormuz separately" from the rest of the conflict.

"It is in the common interest," the aide said.

"We can offer Iran the chance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz again", the aide said, "on one condition: that Iran agrees to take part in the substantive negotiations to which the Americans are inviting it."

"What we are telling the Americans is that they must lift their blockade of Hormuz and take advantage of Iran's willingness to negotiate on key issues," the Elysee representative added.

If those conditions are met, the coalition can deploy resources to guarantee the safety of vessels passing through the strait and "help restore the confidence needed to calm the markets".

The aircraft carrier has around 20 Rafale fighter jets and is escorted by several frigates.

The Charles de Gaulle set sail from the southeastern French port city of Toulon in January for a deployment to the North Atlantic.

But in early March, it was redirected to the eastern Mediterranean to defend French interests and allied countries struck by Iran's retaliation for Israeli?American attacks.

"The movement of the carrier strike group is separate from the military operations initiated in the region," the defence ministry said.

Its presence near the Gulf will allow "an early assessment of the regional operational environment ahead of the possible launch of the initiative," the ministry added.