The U.S. signaled it is bolstering its military presence in the Middle East on Thursday by ordering additional warships and marines to the area to counter Iran’s growing threats to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, along with their personnel and equipment, will be deployed to U.S. Central Command’s Area of Responsibility. Once on station they will join the USS Thomas Hudner and F-35 and F-16 fighter jets that were deployed earlier this week, UPI reports.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the immediate deployment.
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“Through these actions, the United States is demonstrating commitment to ensuring freedom of navigation and deterring Iranian destabilization activities in the region,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The boost in assets follows recent destabilizing activities committed by Iran in the Gulf that have required intervention by the U.S. and ally militaries, the UPI report details.
In April, Iran’s navy was successful in capturing a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker while boasting of challenging a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine.
In May, a stop-and-board operation by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps. helped it seize a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, as Breitbart News reported.
In early June, the U.S. and British navies responded to a distress call from a merchant ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz that came under harassment from what U.S. Naval Forces Central Command described as three Iranian fast-attack boats.
According to U.S. Central Command, in the last two years, Iran has either attacked, seized or attempted to seizure nearly 20 internationally flagged merchant vessels within its area of operations.
UPI further reports U.S. Central Command said Thursday’s deployment will add further aviation, maritime and Marine assets that provide “even greater flexibility and maritime capability in the region.”
“These additional forces provide unique capabilities, which alongside our partners nations in the region, further safeguard the free flow of international commerce and uphold the rules-based international order, and deter Iranian destabilizing activities in the region,” Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander U.S. Central Command, said in a statement.
About a fifth of the world’s crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow choke point between Iran and Oman.