France, March 13 -- "The Europeans find themselves swept up in this," Cyrille Bret, a geopolitical analyst and researcher at the Jacques-Delors Institute, told RFI.

"We have been put into a situation where, as with Ukraine, we are subject to decisions made in Washington without any say, and we will then be expected to pay, in one form or another, for the consequences of these operations."

France has made it clear that it considers Iran's retaliation a direct threat to its allies, as well as to military personnel and civilians stationed across the Gulf region.

"Our objective is to maintain a strictly defensive stance, standing up for the countries attacked by Iran in retaliation, to maintain our credibility and to contribute to regional...