Overview
- EU foreign ministers rejected, for now, President Trump’s request to send naval escorts into the Strait of Hormuz and kept the Aspides mission limited to the Red Sea.
- France remains the outlier in deployments, sending the Charles de Gaulle carrier group and other assets on a defensive footing and offering to mediate between Israel and Lebanon.
- IRGC-linked attacks extended to energy and military targets, including a drone strike that ignited a fire at the Fujairah oil hub, ballistic launches that triggered alerts in northern Israel, and Saudi interceptions of 21 drones.
- Italian personnel were reported safe after a drone hit a Baghdad hotel, as officials across Europe reiterated they would not join a U.S.-led escort operation.
- Iran warned that any U.S. ground operation would face a prolonged fight and cited its Feb. 19 UN letter declaring hostile bases legitimate targets, while energy market risks persisted under continued disruption of Hormuz.