On Sunday, over 3,000 U.S. sailors and marines arrived in the Red Sea amid a deployment announced by Washington to deal with alleged attempts by Iran to seize commercial shipping in the area.
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The U.S. Fifth Fleet announced that the contingent arrived aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, which transited the Mediterranean and accessed the Red Sea through the Suez Canal.
This deployment aims to reinforce the U.S. presence with “additional naval and aviation assets, as well as more marines and sailors” for “greater maritime capacity and flexibility.”
On July 20, President Joe Biden’s administration announced an increase in the U.S. presence in the area by deploying an Amphibious Group (ARG) with a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), in addition to F-35 and F-16 forces and a guided missile destroyer, the USS Thomas Hudner.
Why are there so many US military bases in the Middle East? This is related to oil production in the region, and the US dollar is deeply bound to oil. So in the Middle East, the US military has many bases in these countries. Do you remember that the United States scolded Saudi Ar pic.twitter.com/dhxTZOAYkR
— 天山童姥���� (@Tianshanlao123)
June 23, 2023
According to the United States, over last two years, Iran has attacked, seized or attempted to seize almost 20 internationally flagged merchant ships in the area of operations of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet is tasked with policing the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and Central Asia.
In recent years, the Persian Gulf has been the scene of numerous incidents, including attacks on oil tankers and cargo ships, amid the U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil exports.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | President of Iran begins Latin American tour in Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/9MpwsWXVTn
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
June 12, 2023
