Top US Navy official: We Reached 'Uneasy Deterrence’ With Iran

A US MH-60 Seahawk helicopter flies over Revolutionary Guard patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions run high over the Iranian nuclear program. (AP)
A US MH-60 Seahawk helicopter flies over Revolutionary Guard patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions run high over the Iranian nuclear program. (AP)
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Top US Navy official: We Reached 'Uneasy Deterrence’ With Iran

A US MH-60 Seahawk helicopter flies over Revolutionary Guard patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions run high over the Iranian nuclear program. (AP)
A US MH-60 Seahawk helicopter flies over Revolutionary Guard patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions run high over the Iranian nuclear program. (AP)

The top US Navy official in the Mideast said on Sunday the US has reached an “uneasy deterrence” with Iran after months of regional attacks and seizures at sea, even as tensions remain high between Washington and Tehran over its nuclear program.

Vice Adm. Sam Paparo, who oversees the Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, struck an academic tone in comments to the annual Manama Dialogue hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

He described having a “healthy respect” for both Iran’s regular navy and the naval forces of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the US designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

“We have achieved an uneasy deterrence. That uneasy deterrence is exacerbated by world events and by events along the way,” the vice admiral said, The Associated Press reported.

Paparo offered a different stance than his immediate predecessor, Vice Adm. James Malloy, whose last comments to journalists in August, referred to Iran as “reckless and provocative” and always trying in dramatic naval drills to “lower the denominator until they’re sure that they can look like they’ve won something.”

Malloy’s tenure saw oil tankers seized by Iran and a series of limpet mine explosions targeting tankers that the Navy blamed on Iran. Tehran denied being involved, though Revolutionary Guard members were filmed taking an unexploded mine away from one tanker.

Notably, the several months that Paparo’s been in charge have not seen any major crises.

The Revolutionary Guard typically patrols the shallower waters of the Arabian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s regular navy largely operates in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. While previous commanders have made a point to differentiate between the professionalism of the two, Paparo dismissed it as an “old idea” that included a lingering belief that the service was still loyal to Iran’s former shah, who was toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“Forty-one years into the revolution, I think we can dispense with that notion,” the vice admiral said.

“I sincerely doubt there’s a difference among them.”

Paparo also said he did not believe the 5th Fleet’s mission would be affected by the Navy potentially reconstituting a 1st Fleet responsible for the Indian Ocean.

Still, Paparo’s remarks carried a clear warning, quoting former US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at one point.

“Be polite, be professional and have a plan to kill everyone in the room,” he said. “That’s how we conduct ourselves at sea.”



Philippines Alarmed after China Sends ‘Monster Ship’ to Disputed Shoal

This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
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Philippines Alarmed after China Sends ‘Monster Ship’ to Disputed Shoal

This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
This handout aerial photo taken on January 13, 2025 and released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on January 14 shows Chinese Coast Guard ship 5901 sailing in the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

The Philippines accused China on Tuesday of intimidating its fishermen at a disputed South China Sea shoal, and normalizing an "illegal presence", after Beijing sent its largest coast guard vessel into Manila's maritime zone.

The move comes against the backdrop of rising tension between the Philippines, a US treaty ally, and Beijing during the past two years, stemming from their overlapping claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea.

The Philippines has protested this month against the entry of Chinese vessels in its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the 165-m (541-ft) -long ship 5901, last spotted 77 nautical miles off the western province of Zambales.

Jonathan Malaya, a spokesperson for the Philippines' National Security Council, reiterated a call for Beijing to withdraw from Manila's waters the "monster ship" he said was deployed to intimidate its fishermen around Scarborough Shoal.

"We were surprised about the increasing aggression being showed by the People's Republic of China in deploying the monster ship," Malaya told a press conference.

"It is an escalation and provocative," Malaya added, calling the presence of the vessel "illegal" and "unacceptable".

"It is also a clear attempt to intimidate our fishermen and deprive them of their legitimate livelihood."

China's embassy in Manila said the shoal, which it calls "Huangyan Dao", is China's territory, and its actions are in "full accordance with the law".

"It is fully justified," the embassy said in a statement.

Since China seized the Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippines, its coast guard ships have maintained a constant presence to patrol the area.

But China's recent actions have become more concerning because its coast guard vessels moved closer to the Philippine coast, Malaya added.

The Philippine coast guard said it had sent two of its largest vessels to drive away the ship whose presence, its spokesperson said, aimed to normalize China's "illegal deployment" of coast guard vessels in Manila's EEZ.

China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, a strategic shipping conduit for about $3 trillion of annual commerce, overlap with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2016, an international tribunal ruled China's claims to large swathes of the disputed waterway had no basis, a decision Beijing rejects.