Speaking to Pentagon reporters on Friday, the official claimed that the US will send F-16 fighter jets to the Persian Gulf region this weekend to augment the A-10 attack aircraft that have been patrolling there for more than a week, Aljazeera reported.
The defense official asserted that the F-16s are poised to provide air cover for the vessels traversing the waterway, enhancing the military’s visibility in the region, and subsequently serving as a deterrent to Iran’s alleged aggressive actions, according to BNN.
The news comes while Iran and other countries bordering the Persian Gulf have repeatedly stressed that the presence of foreign forces will lead to regional insecurity and the security of the region should be maintained by its countries without foreign interference.
In early July, a US military statement claimed it had blocked two attempts by the Iranian Navy to seize commercial tankers in international waters off Oman.
Reacting to the US statement, an informed Iranian defense source rejected the claims accusing Tehran of trying to take control of two ships.
Back in April, Iranian forces seized two tankers within a week in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, one of them over a judicial complaint by a private plaintiff and the other over a maritime accident with an Iranian fishing craft.
Over the past years, the US Navy has several times seized Iranian-controlled tankers and shipments of oil en route to other countries, citing its own sanctions on Iran's oil exports.
Iran says it views US military vessels lurking in the waters of the Persian Gulf as a threat to its security and a source of tensions and instability in the region.
MP/PR