The US sends huge forces to the Gulf in an anti-Iranian function
In a major political development, the Pentagon has confirmed it is sending a fresh deployment of Marines to the Middle East region as tensions with Iran heat up.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that the new forces, along with warships, were sent to deter Iran from interfering with international shipping in the Persian Gulf region, following at least two recent attempts by Iranian commandos to seize tankers in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman.
Austin said the USS Bataan amphibious readiness group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are being sent to the Gulf region, which consists of about 2,500 Marines, to provide "even greater flexibility and maritime capability in the region."
The amphibious readiness group consists of the warship Bataan and two others, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall. The group had already left Norfolk, Virginia earlier this month.
Weeks ago the Pentagon sent the USS Thomas Hudner and other F-35 and F-16 fighters to the region to assist the A-10 attack aircraft, as the tankers came under increasing threats, including an incident in which one was hit.
A new statement from Central Command (CENTCOM) says the additional assets “will provide unique capabilities, which together with our partner nations in the region, will further safeguard the free flow of international trade and bolster the rules-based international order and deter Iranian destabilizing activities in the region.”
US officials fear the Iranians are poised to seize more vessels, as US-captured Iranian oil is currently off the coast of Texas. As we detailed earlier, the US Justice Department seized the Greek tanker Suez Rajan in April under the guise of sanctions enforcement and forced the vessel to head for Texas instead of China. The Suez Rajan is carrying 800,000 barrels of stolen oil and is currently off the coast of Galveston. US officials are now hoping a US company will agree to dump the seized oil, but the companies fear Iranian retaliation.
US officials in April made the following belated admission:
Previously unreported US action against Suez Rajan sheds new light on Iran's decision to capture Advantage Sweet, a US-bound tanker of Kuwaiti crude that was chartered by Chevron.
A US official said Thursday's seizure "appears to be retaliation for an earlier US seizure of Iranian oil, which Iran recently attempted to recover but failed to recover."
As the tit-for-tat turns into another summer of "tanker wars," the Pentagon is preparing for more with its new deployment of additional Marines. The two sides have already been very close to a conflict in the past, and such a large force certainly does not pacify the situation. If the Iranians try to stop a ship flying the American flag or similar, we will see a direct conflict.
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The article The USA sends huge forces to the Gulf in an anti-Iranian function comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-mandano-ingenti-forze-nel-golfo-in-funzione-anti-iraniana/ on Sat, 22 Jul 2023 07:00:20 +0000.