Step to raise tensions in the Middle East

The Pentagon announced that following Iran’s harassment and seizure of merchant ships in recent months, the United States will send warships to the region to monitor major waterways in the Middle East and increase the number of F-35 fighter jets. and F-16s deployed.

The White House announced in May that the Biden administration would take some steps in the region, but did not specify what those steps would be.

“The Pentagon is increasing the US presence and ability in the region to monitor the Strait of Hormuz and the surrounding area,” Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Defense, told reporters. It is not yet clear where the new planes will be deployed and how long they will remain in the region.

The US navy intervened earlier this month to prevent Iran from detaining two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Since 2019, during periods of heightened tension between the US and Iran, there have been attacks on ships at strategic points in the Persian Gulf.

About a fifth of the world’s crude oil and petroleum products pass through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman, where the Persian Gulf opens to the ocean. (Reuters)