BERLIN: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Saturday said his country plans to deploy minesweeper ships to the Mediterranean, which later could be transferred to the Strait of Hormuz.

“We will deploy a minesweeper to the Mediterranean and provide it with a command and supply ship,” Pistorius told the Rheinische Post newspaper Saturday.

He did not say exactly when the ships are scheduled to depart.

After an end to hostilities between the US, Israel and Iran, the German minesweepers could be deployed in the Strait of Hormuz, though such a mission would need to be approved by Germany's Parliament.

“To save time, we have decided to deploy part of the German units to the Mediterranean early on so that — once the mandate is approved — we do not lose any further time,” Pistorius said.