US naval forces providing protection for American-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz may extend the assistance to other countries' commercial vessels using the waterway, officials said Friday. Pentagon officials said Thursday that warships had begun "accompanying" US-flagged vessels in the strategic corridor as a precaution after Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged ship this week and "harassed" an American-flagged ship last week.
"Yesterday we had a total of four US-flagged ships that were accompanied through the strait," spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter approved the operation and "this is going to continue for an indefinite period of time," Warren said. US Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle East, said it was possible the assistance could be offered to other merchant ships sailing through the maritime chokepoint.
"Our current plans are for accompanying US-flagged ships, although there are discussions with other nations to include their vessels as well," Central Command spokesman Colonel Patrick Ryder told reporters in a teleconference. The USS Farragut, a guided-missile destroyer, and three coastal patrol craft - the Thunderbolt, the Firebolt and the Typhoon - were currently operating in the area. US naval forces conducted a similar security operation in the Strait of Hormuz in 2010, officials said.
The move came at a moment of delicate diplomacy between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program and amid tensions in the Gulf, as a Saudi-led coalition wages an air war in Yemen against Iranian-backed Huthi rebels. US officials said there were no plans at the moment to send naval ships into Iranian territorial waters. Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards forced a Marshall Islands-flagged ship, the Maersk Tigris, to Iran's Larak Island on Tuesday after firing warning shots. The Pentagon said Friday the Maersk Tigris remains anchored off of Larak island. Iran said its forces seized control of the Tigris over a long-running commercial dispute and that the vessel would be released as soon as an alleged debt is settled. US officials also have accused Iranian forces of moving aggressively around a US-flagged commercial ship in the Gulf last week.
The incidents prompted Washington to demand Iran uphold freedom of navigation in the area. The Strait of Hormuz is often described as the world's most important oil export route. About 30 percent of all oil traded by sea moves through the narrow channel, or about 17 million barrels a day.