WASHINGTON • The United States hopes to enlist allies over the next two weeks or so in a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters off Iran and Yemen, where Washington blames Iran and Iran-aligned fighters for attacks, the top US general has said.
Under the plan, which has only been finalised in recent days, the US would provide command ships and lead surveillance efforts for the military coalition. Allies would patrol waters near those US command ships and escort commercial vessels with their nation's flags.
Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, articulated those details to reporters following meetings on Tuesday about it with Acting US Defence Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"We're engaging now with a number of countries to see if we can put together a coalition that would ensure freedom of navigation both in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab," Gen Dunford said.
"And so I think probably over the next couple of weeks, we'll identify which nations have the political will to support that initiative and then we'll work directly with the militaries to identify the specific capabilities that'll support that."
Iran has long threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost a fifth of the world's oil passes, if it was unable to export its oil, something US President Donald Trump's administration has sought as a way to pressure Teheran to renegotiate a deal on its nuclear programme.
But the US proposal for an international coalition to safeguard shipping in the strait, at the mouth of the Gulf, has been gaining momentum since attacks in May and June against oil tankers in Gulf waters.
Although US officials had publicly discussed plans to safeguard the strait, Gen Dunford's disclosure that the coalition would also seek to bolster security in Bab al-Mandab, off Yemen, appeared to be a new element. The US, as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have long fretted over attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in the narrow waterway, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.
Gen Dunford said the size of the campaign could be adjusted based on the number of countries that commit to it. "This will be scalable, right? So with a small number of contributors, we can have a small mission. And we'll expand that as the number of nations that are willing to participate identify themselves," he said.
REUTERS
