US Navy prepares allies in the Gulf to ‘protect navigation’

ONBOARDTHERFACARDIGANBAYINTHE GULF: The US is training Gulf allies to “protect navigation” in the region’s troubled waterways, as it seeks to build an alliance to contain Iran.

Washington’s three-week International Maritime Exercise (IMX), which started on October 21, came after a number of commercial vessels were attacked in the Gulf from May, ratcheting up regional tensions. Washington blamed the incidents on Iran, which has denied any involvement.

On Tuesday, the US invited international media to see part of the IMX, the second-largest maritime exercise of its kind.

The manoeuvres involve 5,000 personnel, 40 vessels and 17 aircrafts from 50 countries deployed to the strategic waterway that separates Iran from the pro-us

Arab Gulf monarchies.

“This is the first time we are taking part in the IMX,” the head of a Saudi naval de-mining team, Ali Bin Shreidi, told AFP aboard the Cardigan Bay, a British Royal Fleet Auxillary landing ship 65km off Bahrain’s coast. He was taking part in order “to increase capabilities and share our expertise in fighting mines, in order to protect navigation”, he said.

In June, the US Navy alleged that a mine resembling Iranian weaponry was used in an attack on the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous tanker, targeted as it passed through the Gulf of Oman.

Then in July, the IRGC seized a British-flagged oil tanker, holding it for more than two months.

“One of the biggest reasons for us being out here is to build international relations,” said US Navy lieutenant Jonathan Phares who was among 300 personnel from the US, France and the Gulf on the Cardigan Bay.