Germany moves two ships to Djibouti, eyeing multinational Hormuz mission this summer

VIENNA — The German Navy is moving two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s defense minister confirmed on Thursday.

Speaking to the press before a meeting of NATO defense chiefs in Brussels, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said that the mine-clearing ship Fulda and the supply ship Mosel had passed the Suez Canal. They are bound for Djibouti, which they are expected to reach in five to seven days and where they will be refueled and restocked.

A total of 140 German soldiers are aboard the ships, according to the German Ministry of Defense, including mine clearance divers, vessel protection teams and “autonomous systems.”

The two ships are currently operating under the EU operation Aspides, which was launched in response to the strikes against commercial ships by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. During their Red Sea transit, the ships will contribute to the situational awareness of the EU naval mission as a whole, the German MOD said in a press release.

A mission in the Strait of Hormuz would require separate parliamentary approval, Pistorius said. The Ministry of Defense said it intended to present a corresponding resolution to the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, before the summer recess, which is set to begin on Jul. 10.

Additional preconditions for a German involvement in the strait include a durable end to hostilities surrounding Iran, as well as an international mandate.

Pistorius also outlined the need for a “permissive environment” on Thursday, saying that included “in particular, the consent of Iran and Oman for the relevant mine-clearing activities.”

He welcomed the negotiated cessation of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran but said the details of any possible German mission would depend significantly on the outcome of negotiations between Washington and Tehran over the course of the next 60 days.

A multinational naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz has been brewing for months, led by the United Kingdom and France and including Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, as of May 12.

On Monday, the leaders of France, the UK, Germany and Italy issued a joint statement welcoming the ceasefire announced by U.S. President Trump and reaffirming that their countries remained committed to a “strictly defensive and independent mission to reassure commercial shipping and conduct mine clearance operations.”

Iran has previously warned European nations not to send warships to the region, even for the stated objectives of mine clearing and protecting shipping. In May, Tehran’s deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, warned that European warships would be met with a “decisive and immediate response” from the Iranian armed forces.

“The Strait of Hormuz is not a property shared with powers from beyond the region, and Iran, as a littoral state, has the right to exercise sovereignty and determine its legal arrangements,” Gharibabadi was quoted by Iranian media at the time.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

维也纳——德国国防部长周四证实，德国海军正在向红海调派两艘舰艇，为可能在霍尔木兹海峡执行扫雷任务做准备。

德国国防部长鲍里斯·皮斯托里乌斯在布鲁塞尔北约防务首脑会议召开前对媒体表示，扫雷舰“富尔达”号和补给舰“摩泽尔”号已通过苏伊士运河。两舰正驶往吉布提，预计将在五至七天内抵达，届时将进行燃料和物资补给。

据德国国防部称，船上共有 140 名德国士兵，其中包括扫雷潜水员、舰艇保护队和“自主系统”。

这两艘舰艇目前正在执行欧盟“阿斯派德斯行动”，该行动是为了应对伊朗支持的也门胡塞武装对商船的袭击而发起的。德国国防部在一份新闻稿中表示，这两艘舰艇在穿越红海期间，将有助于提升欧盟海军整体的态势感知能力。

皮斯托里乌斯表示，在霍尔木兹海峡执行任务需要议会另行批准。德国国防部表示，计划在7月10日开始的夏季休会前，向德国联邦议院（德国最高议院）提交一份相应的决议。

德国介入海峡事务的其他前提条件包括伊朗周边敌对行动的持久结束以及国际授权。

皮斯托瑞斯周四还强调了营造“宽松环境”的必要性，并表示这尤其包括“伊朗和阿曼对相关排雷活动的同意”。

他欢迎美国和伊朗通过谈判停止敌对行动，但表示任何可能的德国使团的细节将在很大程度上取决于华盛顿和德黑兰在未来60天内的谈判结果。

截至 5 月 12 日，由英国和法国领导的多国海军行动已在霍尔木兹海峡酝酿数月，参与国包括阿尔巴尼亚、澳大利亚、巴林、比利时、保加利亚、加拿大、克罗地亚、捷克共和国、丹麦、爱沙尼亚、芬兰、德国、希腊、日本、科索沃、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、黑山、荷兰、挪威、葡萄牙、卡塔尔、韩国、罗马尼亚、斯洛伐克和瑞典。

周一，法国、英国、德国和意大利领导人发表联合声明，对美国总统特朗普宣布的停火表示欢迎，并重申他们的国家将继续致力于“严格意义上的防御性和独立性任务，以确保商业航运安全并开展扫雷行动”。

伊朗此前曾警告欧洲国家，即使出于扫雷和保护航运等既定目的，也不要向该地区派遣军舰。今年5月，伊朗副外长卡齐姆·加里巴巴迪警告称，欧洲军舰将遭到伊朗武装部队“果断而迅速的回应”。

“霍尔木兹海峡不是与地区外势力共享的财产，伊朗作为沿岸国家，有权行使主权并决定其法律安排，”伊朗媒体当时援引加里巴巴迪的话说。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。