On the fourth floor of the French foreign ministry in central Paris, some 20 Red Cross volunteers took calls on Monday afternoon from distressed French citizens who were stranded in the Middle East.
It was one of three government-run crisis centers, staffed 24 hours a day, working to repatriate tens of thousands of French citizens stuck in the region after war broke out in Iran.
“Our priority is the safety of our citizens,” said Éléonore Caroit, the French minister responsible for citizens abroad, as she visited the center that afternoon.
The repatriation program is one part of a muscular response to the war from the French government, which has sought to project an image of assertiveness and strength after President Trump sidelined Europe in the buildup to war.
President Emmanuel Macron has refused to have France join the American and Israeli strikes on Iran, calling them illegal. Instead, he has sent defensive weapons and deployed about a dozen warships to defend allies like Cyprus, protect shipping routes off the Iranian coast and — if necessary — help with repatriations. Experts say those battle ships make up more than half the French war fleet.
So far, volunteers in the French call centers have fielded more than 11,000 calls and 7,500 requests for help returning to France, Ms. Caroit said.
The French government has repatriated 1,500 French nationals, using both military and commercial planes, from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
One French plane dispatched to the region turned back because of missile fire in the area, officials said.
Separately, some 15,000 French citizens have returned to the country on commercial flights on their own, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, told broadcasters this week.
France was among the first countries to organize repatriation flights, amid criticism of the United States for failing to act fast enough to help stranded citizens. The first French repatriation flight reached France early last Wednesday, the day before the U.S. State Department said the first American equivalent reached the United States.
Initially, the State Department caused an outcry after telling stranded Americans to leave the region “using available commercial transportation,” even as several countries closed their airspace. Assistant Secretary of State Dylan Johnson said on Monday that the government had since organized over two dozen charter flights carrying thousands of Americans from the Middle East.
Catherine Porter is an international reporter for The Times, covering France. She is based in Paris.
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