US Conducting More Patrols in the Persian Gulf

The Department of Defense is sending its warships through the Strait of Hormuz at an increased pace. The operations are a reaction to increased tensions with Iran.

Last month, the US seized a tanker carrying Iranian oil to China. In response, Tehran took control over two commercial ships in the Persian Gulf. Washington was irate with the retaliatory seizures. On Monday, the commander of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, said, “Iran’s actions are unacceptable.” 

After Iran took possession of the second ship, National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby announced, “The Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the [Persian] Gulf.” 

However, Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, told the New York Times that Washington will not deploy more military assets to the region. Instead, Central Command is ordering more operations with the personnel and equipment already in the region. 

Hawkins compared the operations to police patrolling a highway. “It is sort of like when you rotate more patrols cars on a highway,” Commander Hawkins said. “They get off the exit and turn back around, and keep doing these loops.”

The increased American military presence in the strait has been denounced by Tehran. “The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the continued presence of foreign military forces in the waters of the Persian Gulf” as a threat to peace and stability, Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement. “[Tehran views this as] a threat to the security of navigation in this strategic waterway and believes that the countries of the region have the ability to protect the peace and security of navigation in it without the presence of foreigners.” 

While Washington condemns Iranian commercial ship seizures, Tehran’s actions are often in response to US pirating of Iranian ships. American officials complain that Iran has interfered with at least 15 commercial vessels over the past two years. Yet, the US and Israel have seized or attacked over a dozen Iranian vessels in recent years.