The new US forces arrived on board USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall, providing “greater flexibility and maritime capability,” the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said on Monday. (@US5thFleet)
Metropolis Desk-
In an intensified response from Washington to Tehran’s threat to commercial shipping, the US has sent two warships and more than 3,000 sailors and Marines to the Red Sea.
According to the Pentagon, during the past two years, Iran has either attempted to grab control of or attempted to seize over 20 ships in the area flying foreign flags.
The US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain announced on Monday that the new US forces had arrived on board the USS Bataan and USS Carter Hall, bringing “greater flexibility and maritime capability.” The deployment bolsters efforts “to deter destabilizing activity and de-escalate regional tensions caused by Iran’s harassment and seizures of merchant vessels,” said spokesman Cdr. Tim Hawkins.
The Bataan is an amphibious assault ship with landing craft, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters. Marines and their gear are transported by the dock landing ship Carter Hall, which also lands them on shore.
The most recent deployment followed the blocking of two Iranian efforts to board commercial tankers in international waters off the coast of Oman on July 5 by US Marines. Tehran claimed that one of the tankers, the Richmond Voyager, under the flag of the Bahamas, collided with an Iranian ship, injuring five crew members.
Iran captured two oil ships in a week in local seas in early April and early May. Following those occurrences, Israel and the US accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack on a tanker run by an Israeli-owned company in November off the coast of Oman.
To prevent Iran from capturing ships in the Gulf, the US said last month that it will send a destroyer, F-35, and F-16 fighter jets, and an expeditionary marine battalion to the Middle East. Additionally, Washington is getting ready to board commercial tankers in the Gulf with Marines and military troops.
US deployments, according to Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, are solely for Washington’s benefit. “The military presence of the US government in the area has never improved security. Their motives for fostering unrest and insecurity in this area have always been driven by their interests, the speaker claimed. The Gulf nations were able to provide for their security, he claimed.
Even if the threat provided by Iranian assaults against ships lessens shortly, security will continue to be a source of tension in US-Gulf relations, according to Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.
There will continue to be a sense that the US isn’t doing enough to stop Iranian attacks on foreign shipping. A fresh strategy is required.
Source- Arab News
