Jeddah: Two warships and more than 3,000 sailors and Marines have been sent by the US to the Red Sea as part of an increased response from Washington to Iran's threat to commercial shipping.
According to the Pentagon, over the past two years, Iran has either attempted to seize control of or attempted to seize control of nearly 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, providing "greater flexibility and maritime capability." Adding to efforts "to deter destabilising activity and de-escalate regional tensions caused by Iran's harassment and seizures of merchant vessels," spokesman Cdr. Tim Hawkins said the deployment will help calm things down.
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The Bataan is an amphibious assault ship with landing craft, fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters. Marines and their gear are transported on the dock landing ship Carter Hall, which also lands them on shore.
The most recent deployment followed the blocking of two Iranian attempts to board commercial tankers in international waters off the coast of Oman on July 5 by US forces. Tehran claimed that one of the tankers, the Richmond Voyager, flying the flag of the Bahamas, collided with an Iranian ship, injuring five crew members.
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Iran seized two oil tankers in a week in local waters in early April and early May. Following those incidents, 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.
In order to prevent Iran from capturing ships in the Gulf, the US announced last month that it would send a destroyer, F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, and an expeditionary marine unit to the Middle East. Additionally, Washington is getting ready to board commercial tankers in the Gulf with Marines and navy personnel.
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 own security, he claimed.
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Even if the threat posed by Iranian attacks against shipping lessens in the near future, 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 perception that the US isn't doing enough to stop Iranian attacks on foreign shipping. It is clear that a new strategy is required.