U.S. increases Strait of Hormuz patrols
American warships in region step up watchfulness after recent moves by Iran
MANAMA, Bahrain — U.S. Navy warships stationed in the Persian Gulf region have increased their patrols through the Strait of Hormuz, the busy merchant ship passageway, in response to recent moves by Iran to seize two oil tankers, the latest sign of rising tensions between Iran and the United States.
“Iran’s actions are unacceptable,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the region, said in an interview Monday at the Navy base in Bahrain. He was speaking several days after he rode aboard a Navy guided-missile destroyer through the strait of Hormuz, along with leaders from the French and British navies, in an effort to send a unified message to Iran.
Iran has “harassed, attacked or interfered” with 15 internationally flagged merchant ships since 2021, Pentagon and White House officials said this month as they announced the move to increase patrols by U.S. Navy ships, drones and planes, as well as those of U.S. allies in the region.
Most recently, Iran’s navy flew a helicopter over the deck of an oil tanker named Advantage Sweet in late April. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship had been chartered by Chevron, on its way to Houston from Kuwait, and according to Lloyd’s List, which tracks shipping, was carrying 750,000 barrels of crude oil.
Commandos from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard lowered themselves to the Advantage Sweet’s deck via a rope and seized control of the vessel just after it had passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran then showed a celebratory video of the seizure on state television.
Six days later, a dozen speedboats from the Iranian navy surrounded a second oil tanker — this time, the Panama-flagged Niovi — after it left a dry dock in Dubai, on its way to another port in the United Arab Emirates. The ship was forced to divert to Iranian territorial waters.
The United States “will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation in the Middle East waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said when he announced the increased U.S. Navy patrols earlier this month.
The Strait of Hormuz, which is bordered by the United Arab Emirates and Oman on one side and Iran on the other, is as narrow as 21 miles. But it sees constant merchant ship traffic, particularly among oil tankers that supply oil to the world.
The plan, at least for now, is not to send additional Navy ships or planes to the region, Pentagon officials said, but instead to move those already in the area through the Strait of Hormuz more frequently, to send a signal to Iran that the United States and its allies are watching, and to be in closer proximity if other incidents take place, said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain.
The Navy 5th Fleet’s operations cover 2.5 million square miles of water, from the Persian Gulf to parts of the Indian Ocean, and more of its vessels will now be focused in the area around Iran.
“It is sort of like when you rotate more patrols cars on a highway,” Hawkins said. “They get off the exit and turn back around and keep doing these loops.”
On Tuesday, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, preceded by a drone vessel that the Navy operates in the Persian Gulf, sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, along with the USS Paul Hamilton, a guided-missile destroyer, which had also made the same trip Friday.
In response to the recent moves by the United States, Iran has argued that its action against the two merchant ships came after they both violated international maritime regulations, including the Advantage Sweet, which Iranian officials assert had collided with an Iranian boat, injuring crew members.