WASHINGTON: The United States will send additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with a warship to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Monday, in a bid to monitor key waterways in the region following “Iran’s seizure and harassment” of commercial shipping vessels in recent months.

In May, the White House had announced that the Biden administration would be making a series of moves in the region, but at the time did not say what it would include.

“The (Pentagon) is increasing our presence and ability to monitor the (Strait of Hormuz) and surrounding waters,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Earlier this month, the US navy said it had “intervened to prevent Iran from seizing” two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

About a fifth of the world’s crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2023