US ‘Deterrence’ Forces Approach ‘Hormuz’ Following Iran's Threats

In this image obtained from the US Central Command, US Air Force A-10s fly over the USS McFaul during operations in the Gulf, on August 15, 2023. (Photo by Handout / US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
In this image obtained from the US Central Command, US Air Force A-10s fly over the USS McFaul during operations in the Gulf, on August 15, 2023. (Photo by Handout / US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
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US ‘Deterrence’ Forces Approach ‘Hormuz’ Following Iran's Threats

In this image obtained from the US Central Command, US Air Force A-10s fly over the USS McFaul during operations in the Gulf, on August 15, 2023. (Photo by Handout / US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)
In this image obtained from the US Central Command, US Air Force A-10s fly over the USS McFaul during operations in the Gulf, on August 15, 2023. (Photo by Handout / US Central Command (CENTCOM) / AFP)

The United States is boosting its military presence in Gulf waters to deter Iran's increasing threats to ships and oil tankers, in a step aimed at enhancing Washington’s role in protecting the strategic region.

After arriving earlier this week in the Gulf of Oman, the USS Bataan and the USS Carter approached the Strait of Hormuz, boarding about 3,000 US soldiers to join the US bases in the Gulf.

US-led maritime forces are warning ships against approaching Iranian waters.

The moves follow a spate of seizure and attempted seizure of ships in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea that holds a fifth of world oil output.

The spokesman for the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, Commander Tim Hawkins, said that there is a “heightened threat and risk to regional mariners in terms of seizures” by Iran in the strait.

"Right now, our focus is on ... increasing our presence in and near the Strait of Hormuz to ensure security and stability in a critical waterway," Hawkins told AFP at the US naval base in Bahrain.

The attacks on tankers came during troubled relations between Washington and its Gulf allies, who have long relied on US protection for their oil assets and chafed at a perceived military drawdown.

According to the US military, Iran has seized or attempted to take nearly 20 ships in the region in the past two years.

Most recently, Washington said its forces prevented two Iranian attempts to seize commercial tankers in international waters off Oman on July 5.

Iran seized two tankers within a week in regional waters in April and May.

Last Friday, the US-led naval coalition in the Gulf region warned ships sailing in the Strait of Hormuz to “transit as far away” from Iran’s waters as possible to avoid being detained.

A few days earlier, Washington announced the arrival of more than 3,000 US Marines and sailors to the Middle East on board warships as part of a plan to boost the military presence in the region, which it confirmed aims to deter Iran from seizing ships and oil tankers.

According to Hawkins, the military build-up provides Washington with "more robust forces where needed," noting that the new elements have joined more than 30,000 US soldiers stationed in various regions of the Middle East.

Although the US previously sent troop reinforcements to the Gulf, including in 2019, as a response to Iran tensions, Washington is now considering unprecedented measures.

In early August, a US official said in press statements that his country was preparing to place Marines and Navy personnel on board commercial tankers crossing the Gulf as part of an additional defense plan.

"We have sailors; we have Marines trained here in the region to carry out whatever mission they are tasked with," Hawkins said.

The military build-up coincides with a deal that took place a few days ago between the administration of President Joe Biden and the Iranian leadership regarding the exchange of prisoners and the liberation of Iranian funds that were frozen in South Korea under US sanctions.

Experts and diplomats said the agreement could help boost efforts to address concerns, but tensions could remain.

The Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) spokesman, Ramazan Sharif, as saying last week that his country “can reciprocate any vicious act by the US, such as seizing ships.”

On August 2, the IRGC conducted maneuvers on the occupied Emirati island of Abu Musa, including training in deploying combat forces and operationalizing and equipping new IRGC boats with 600km-range missiles.

The maneuvers came amid diplomatic tension between Tehran and Moscow after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) welcomed an Emirati initiative to reach a peaceful solution to the issue of the three occupied islands through bilateral negotiations or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The UAE and Tehran claim the islands Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb, but Iran has held them since 1971.

The spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, told the Tasnim news that his country does not “pull any punches with anyone regarding the three islands, and these islands belong to Iran.”

He accused Western countries of seeking to raise the issue to justify their presence in the region, saying they want to prove their presence to be legitimate under certain pretexts and stay in the Gulf, the Sea of ​​Oman, and regional waters of West Asia.

“Your presence is illegal, and you must leave the region,” he asserted.

- Bolstering alliances

Dina Arakji, an associate analyst at Control Risks consultancy, called the increased US presence a "shift in posture."

"The move by the US likely aims to reassure Gulf Arab states that Washington remains committed to the region's security," Arakji said.

"Increased Iranian hostility and Chinese engagement with the region has caught Washington's attention," she added, noting the US "now aims to bolster its alliances."

Despite the prisoner deal earlier this month, separate attempts to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran have effectively collapsed.

"With no sign of a diplomatic agreement between the US and Iran, the only alternative is more effective deterrence," said Torbjorn Soltvedt of the risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.

But "the perception that the US isn't doing enough to deter Iranian attacks against international shipping will persist" as long as incidents continue.



Envoys from Iran, the US Arrive in Oman for First Round of Talks over Tehran’s Nuclear Program

This handout picture provided by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on April 12, 2025. (Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on April 12, 2025. (Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)
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Envoys from Iran, the US Arrive in Oman for First Round of Talks over Tehran’s Nuclear Program

This handout picture provided by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on April 12, 2025. (Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) meeting with Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi in Muscat on April 12, 2025. (Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AFP)

Envoys from Iran and the United States arrived Saturday in Oman ahead of the first talks over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program since President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

No overall agreement is immediately likely, but the stakes of the negotiations couldn’t be higher for these two nations closing in on half a century of enmity.  

Trump repeatedly has threatened to unleash airstrikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn that they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels.

Flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed a private jet from Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, arrived in Oman on Saturday morning. US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff had just met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday there.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Ministry released footage of Tehran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, meeting with Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that Araghchi provided Iran’s “stance and key points for the talks to be conveyed to the US side.”

IRNA's report suggested the meeting would be held later Saturday.

“If there is sufficient will on both sides, we will decide on a timetable. But it is still too early to talk about that,” Araghchi said, in an audio clip published by IRNA. “What is clear now is that the negotiations are indirect, and in our view only on the nuclear issue, and will be conducted with the necessary will to reach an agreement that is on an equal footing and leads to securing the national interests of the Iranian people.”

Trump and Witkoff both have described the talks as being “direct.”

“I think our position begins with dismantlement of your program. That is our position today,” Witkoff told The Wall Street Journal before his trip. “That doesn’t mean, by the way, that at the margin we’re not going to find other ways to find compromise between the two countries.”

He added: “Where our red line will be, there can’t be weaponization of your nuclear capability,”

While the US side can offer sanctions relief for Iran’s beleaguered economy, it remains unclear just how much Iran will be willing to concede.  

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran could only maintain a small stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.67%. Today, Tehran’s stockpile could allow it to build multiple nuclear weapons if it so chooses and it has some material enriched up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.  

Judging from negotiations since Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the deal in 2018, Iran will likely ask to keep enriching uranium up to at least 20%.

One thing it won’t do is give up its program entirely. That makes the proposal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a so-called Libyan solution — “you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision, American execution” — unworkable.