Germany is deploying two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible military mission in the Strait of Hormuz, Germany's Defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

Photo: Reuters

"As we speak, our minesweeper Fulda and the supply ship Mosel are sailing through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea," he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

Photo: Reuters

Pistorius said approval would be needed from Iran and Oman before any participation in a minesweeping operation and added any mission would also depend on the developments in further talks between Iran and the United States.