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Iran says possible to secure waters of Gulf with GCC neighbors’ cooperation

Iran said on Sunday it is capable of securing the safety of the strategic Gulf waters in cooperation with GCC neighbors, amid heightened maritime tensions in the region with the US.

“Iran and the countries south of the Persian Gulf are capable of cooperating to ensure the security of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Sea of Oman,” said Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri.

Bagheri spoke in an Iran Navy ceremony near the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of global oil traffic passes.

Shipping traffic through the Gulf, and specifically tanker transit through the Strait – the world’s most vital oil artery – have dominated the limelight in recent weeks after Iran seized two foreign-owned vessels sparking fears of renewed Iranian attacks targeting commercial shipping vessels in Gulf waters.

The US censured Iran and accused it of “harassing, attacking, or interfering with the navigational rights of 15 internationally flagged merchant vessels over the past two years.” In response, Washington announced a “series of moves to bolster defensive posture” in the Gulf.

The US Navy's Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said on May 12 it increased its force presence and heightened patrols to bolster security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Fifth Fleet said it was “working with regional allies and partners to increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling in and around the Strait of Hormuz following Iran’s recent unlawful merchant vessel seizures.”

Bagheri’s statement comes a day after the commander of US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Force, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper sailed through the Strait of Hormuz aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton with his French and British counterparts.

The commander’s transit through the maritime chokehold came as the US Navy increased the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the strategic waterway to counter the Iranian threat to shipping routes in the Gulf.

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