Middle East-based US, British and French naval chiefs transit Strait of Hormuz
The incredibly rare trip by the three navy chiefs saw three fast boats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard approach the USS Paul Hamilton at one point.
The Middle East-based commanders of the US, British and French navies have transited the Strait of Hormuz aboard an American warship, a sign of their unified approach to keeping the crucial waterway open after Iran seized two oil tankers.
Tensions in the Persian Gulf have been volatile since Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers collapsed, following the US’s unilateral withdrawal five years ago.
Guardsmen stood by uncovered machine guns on their decks, while sailors aboard the Paul Hamilton similarly stood by loaded machine guns as others took photographs and video of the vessels.
An Associated Press (AP) journalist also accompanied the allied naval commanders.
While the Guard kept its distance from both the Paul Hamilton and the passing British frigate HMS Lancaster, their presence showed just how tense passage for vessels can be in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of global oil supplies passes.
“So the shipping industry is mindful of what the security posture looks like in the region. We have the ability to positively impact that influence and that’s what we’re doing now.”
Vice Admiral Cooper said Iran’s Guard ships on Friday came within 1,000 yards (915 metres) of the Paul Hamilton, which is based out of San Diego.
The US has viewed securing the Middle East’s waterways, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, as key since then-president Jimmy Carter’s 1980 speech vowing to use military force to protect American interests in the wider Persian Gulf.
While focused then on the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, the Carter Doctrine’s vow to allow “the free movement of Middle East oil” now pits the US against Iran, which has seized a series of oil tankers since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers.
Last week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that America planned to make “a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture” in the Persian Gulf, while criticising Iran’s recent seizures of tankers.
“The volume of commerce that flows through the Strait of Hormuz – it is critical to the world’s economy,” he said.
For its part, Iran has long bristled at the American presence in the region.
After Mr Kirby’s remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani issued a lengthy statement accusing the US of “creating and intensifying instability and insecurity in the Persian Gulf region for decades with its interventionist and destructive policies”.
However, Mr Kanaani also specifically mentioned the US “seizing and confiscating some Iranian oil cargoes in international waters”.
The suspected American seizure of the Suez Rajan, a tanker linked to a US private equity firm believed to have been carrying sanctioned Iranian crude oil off Singapore, likely sparked Tehran to recently take the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Advantage Sweet.
That ship carried Kuwaiti crude oil for energy firm Chevron Corporation of San Ramon, California.
There was no immediate reaction in Iranian state media nor from the Guard about the Paul Hamilton’s trip from the Persian Gulf out through the strait to the Gulf of Oman.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the trip.
On the trip through the Strait of Hormuz, at least one Iranian drone watched the Paul Hamilton.
Meanwhile, a US Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon was also overhead.
US forces routinely fly drones in the region as well, while a navy task force has also put some drones out to sea.
Securing the Strait of Hormuz has been a challenge since the Carter Doctrine – and deadly.
The so-called 1980s Tanker War involved American naval ships escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the gulf and the strait after Iranian mines damaged vessels in the region.
The US Navy even fought a one-day naval battle against Iran at the time, as well as accidentally shooting down an Iranian commercial airliner, killing 290 people.
Tehran seized tankers, while the navy also blamed Iran for again using mines against shipping.
The Trump administration came up with its Sentinel programme, which also involved it and partner nations escorting ships in the region.
But tensions with Europe after the nuclear deal’s collapse did not see a wide buy-in with the programme.
This renewed effort under President Joe Biden does not appear to involve escorting individual ships, but trying to put more allied forces in the region.
Already, the US has brought A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and a submarine into the region to try to deter Iran.
America could also bring more ships into the Persian Gulf.
The end of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the war in Ukraine and American concern over China’s expansion in the South China Sea, has halted routine carrier deployments in recent years.
This is “part of our increase in presence in the region, which was described by the White House last week, and that’s now in execution”, Vice Admiral Cooper said.
