White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made the remarks at a press briefing on Friday.
"The Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture” in the Persian Gulf, he said, adding that the US Central Command will provide additional details on those reinforcements in the coming days.
Kirby used the oft-repeated refrain that Washington will not allow foreign or regional powers to jeopardize freedom of navigation through the Middle East waterways.
He further noted that the US will also be increasing its “coordination and interoperability” with regional allies in the coming weeks.
Iran has insisted that the powers from beyond the region are a source of instability and insecurity in the Persian Gulf region, calling on regional countries for dialogue to secure the waters based on regional forces without foreign intervention.
Earlier this month, a Panama-flagged oil tanker was confiscated by the IRGC’s naval units in the strategic waterway near the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the second such incident in less than a week.
The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet claimed in a statement that the Greek-owned tanker, going by the name of Niovi, was sailing from Dubai towards Fujairah, a port and oil terminal in the United Arab Emirates, when it was stopped by the IRGC Navy on May 3.
At the time, Tehran's Public Prosecutor said that the oil vessel had been impounded by the IRGC Navy following a complaint by a plaintiff and on a judicial order.
The seizure came six days after Iran's Navy seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Sea of Oman. The oil tanker, named Advantage Sweet, had been involved in a maritime accident with an Iranian fishing craft, which resulted in the injury and missing of a number of its crew.
After the collision, the oil tanker attempted to flee the scene in serious breach of international laws and regulations, which require the provision of medical treatment and supply of proper and sufficient medicine to seamen in case of sickness or injury.
The Iranian fishermen managed to issue a distress call long after recovering from the shock.
SKH/ Press TV