International- The US military is deploying fighter jets and a warship to the Middle East to deter Iran's forces.
- Iranian boats have repeatedly harassed and tried to seize commercial ships transiting the region.
The US military is sending an assortment of fighter jets and a warship on a new mission to the Middle East, bringing a firepower boost to the region after Iranian forces recently tried to seize several commercial ships in the area's strategic waterways.
A Pentagon official said this week that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has authorized the deployment of F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, to the US Central Command's (CENTCOM) area of responsibility "to defend US interests and safeguard freedom of navigation in the region." The F-35, a fifth-generation stealth aircraft, is the US military's most advanced fighter jet.
Citing two recent incidents of Iranian harassment in the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman, Deputy Pentagon Spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters at a Monday briefing that "in light of this continued threat and in coordination with our partners and allies, the department is increasing our presence and ability to monitor the strait and surrounding waters."
Singh said she believes some of the aircraft are already on their way to the region, and there is no timeline for the duration of their deployment. The Hudner and the accompanying fighter aircraft will join existing US military assets that were already deployed earlier this year to the Middle East to increase security in the region and deter Iranian forces.
CENTCOM's area of responsibility encompasses several million square miles of land across or 21 countries in the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Iran's forces have attacked, harassed, or seized nearly 20 internationally flagged vessels in waters there since 2021, according to the US Navy.
The two separate incidents that took place earlier this month are only the latest in a longstanding trend of Iranian provocations that has frustrated the US and its Western allies.
Tehran's naval ships tried to capture two oil tankers on July 5 as they were transiting through international waters and even opened fire on one of them. The ship, however, did not suffer significant damage, and there were no casualties.
Prior to this, Iranian boats harassed two internationally flagged vessels during two separate incidents in late April and early May, respectively.
Navy officials said that the US in mid-May increased the number of ships and aircraft that patrol the area around the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow and important body of water between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula — after observing an "uptick" in Tehran's illegal capturing of commercial ships.
"We call upon Iran to immediately cease these destabilizing actions that threaten the free flow of commerce through this strategic waterway of which the world depends on for more than one fifth of the world's oil supply," Singh said on Monday.
The US and Iran have maintained a contentious relationship throughout the Biden administration, and Washington has repeatedly accused Tehran of threatening regional security in the Middle East and even harming American service members. Specifically, US forces stationed in Syria to fight the Islamic State have recently found themselves engaged in deadly exchanges of fire with Iran-backed militias.
These tensions led the US Air Force earlier this year to deploy aging but well-armed A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft to the Middle East, with a top commander saying that they will work to deter Iranian activity. In other measures designed to curb Tehran's harmful activity this year, the US and its Western partners have regularly raided small boats smuggling weapons from Iran to a brutal proxy war in Yemen, confiscating mountains of guns and ammunition.