The U.S. military is readying plans to embark armed Marines and sailors aboard the commercial ships of interested private companies after a spate of vessel seizures in the region by Iranian forces in the Strait of Hormuz, officials said Thursday, a remarkable escalation that could put Washington and Tehran in direct confrontation.
The effort has not yet received final approval, but it has buy-in from senior Biden administration officials and could commence as soon as this month, said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military planning.
Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., have been flown to Bahrain and received related training, with additional personnel due to arrive soon aboard the American warships.
“We have a cohort on the ground,” the official said. He added that the “policy decision has pretty much been made.” A second U.S. official acknowledged the proposal is under discussion at the Pentagon but stressed that it has not yet been approved.
Asked about the plan, a Pentagon spokesman, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, said on Thursday that he had no announcements to make. A spokesman at the White House, John Kirby, directed questions to the Pentagon while noting the Strait of Hormuz’s importance as a “vital seaway.” The United States, he said, has seen threats by Iran to close off this “chokepoint.”
The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, and the open ocean beyond. At least 20 percent of world’s crude oil is hauled through the strategic waterway.
The effort, first reported by the Associated Press, is among a set of muscular actions being pursued by the Biden administration following a purported rise in attempts by Iran to seize commercial tanker ships.
On July 5, near the coast of Oman, Iranian forces tried to commandeer two vessels, firing on and striking the hull of one of them, U.S. military officials said at the time. Such harassment is part of a pattern dating back years and requires an “elevated response,” one of the officials said.
Other recent steps include the deployment of advanced F-35 jets and other fighter aircraft, and A-10 attack jets, to the Persian Gulf region. The Pentagon also dispatched an additional Navy destroyer to the presence of American military vessels already there.
