From left to right, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, United Kingdom Maritime Component Commander Commodore Philip Dennis and Joint Commander of the French Forces Deployed in the Indian Ocean Vice Adm. Emmanuel Slaars. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt)
On May 19, the commander of the United States Navy 5th Fleet transited the Strait of Hormuz aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton with naval counterparts from France and the United Kingdom.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, visited the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer as the navy increased the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the strategic maritime choke point.
Cooper was joined by Joint Commander of the French Forces Deployed in the Indian Ocean Vice Adm. Emmanuel Slaars, and United Kingdom Maritime Component Commander Commodore Philip Dennis. While aboard, the leaders met with Paul Hamilton leadership, observed patrol operations and thanked crewmembers for their efforts.
During the transit through the narrow strait, Paul Hamilton and UK Royal Navy frigate HMS Lancaster passed one another as the three commanders observed.
“Iran has seized or attacked 15 ships in the last two years. Eight seizures and seven attacks,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who oversees the US Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet, told the AP. “So the shipping industry is mindful of what the security posture looks like in the region. We have the ability to positively impact that influence and that’s what we’re doing now.”
Cooper said that Iranian warships came within 1,000 yards of Paul Hamilton. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps later confirmed that it had observed the destroyer.
From left to right, United Kingdom Maritime Component Commander Commodore Philip Dennis, Joint Commander of the French Forces Deployed in the Indian Ocean Vice Adm. Emmanuel Slaars, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces, and Cmdr. Jake Ferrari, commanding officer of guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), discuss maritime operations aboard Paul Hamilton while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, May 19, 2023. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt)
Iranian naval forces seized on April 27 the U.S.-bound Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Advantage Sweet while it transited international waters in the Gulf of Oman. Later on May 3, the Panama-flagged oil tanker Niovi was seized while transiting from the Arabian Gulf toward the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.
The tankers were captured in response to the seizure of an Iranian oil shipment by the U.S. According to Reuters and other news sources, Washington seized the oil from the China-bound Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Suez Rajan as it was sailing near southern Africa on April 22 after securing an earlier court order.
The U.S. retaliated by announcing on May 12 that it will increase the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
The Persian Gulf remains one of the focal points of the standoff between the U.S. and Iran. Washington is now apparently trying to drag its key allies, France and the UK, into this standoff, after its top regional partners, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, opted to follow a diplomatic path and improve relations with Tehran.
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what a waste of taxes. happy to not pay much thanks to my one-single-person company.
i just steal from the government, much better! steal steal and steal even more from them
bastardi z usa zase provokujú. potrebovali by dostať konečne poriadnu príučku.
come on sf, what has been done to iran over the years and what about the oil smuggled and stolen by the us and their cohorts.
their globalist masters are drooling over iran’s oil and want to knock them over in an armed robbery as soon as they sell it to their people how bad iran is.
that is typical of this people. if you can’t do it alone, gang up. iran can annihilate those sitting ducks.
nuke usa! kill them all!
who invited these cunts to patrol the strait of hormuz?
ei cum? cine i a invitat? practica libera circulatie a marilor ca si pe. langa taiwan
the british and the french helped the ayatollah to be put in power and now they are complaining.
3 unwelcomed cunts
after the media show they all joined their lodgemasters in the showers where all the young officers sucked off the old men of europe who are their slave masters.
can you just see the mess these three could get themselves engaged in? natostan just lost bakhmut today and they grandstanding in the hormuz straight will fix this.
masters of the universe, you dont mess with persia or russia… i keep telling you. if you win will be a tiny win to this time but we all are going to lose in the eternity… dont mess with iran (persia). the gods are watching closely the hell you are going to unleash on earth… be happy with your empire or else, masters of the universe.
“the emperor has no clothes” say applies here. self important eu little sh*t bullies have not learn their position yet.
maybe somebody should tell these morons that iran have a few hundret speed missile boats, dozents of subs and hundrets of anti ship missiles ready.
or better dont tell them, better for them to find and try it out.
all the comical military posturing by the anglozionazi empire of shit can no more stop the collap$€ of worthless fiat filth than threats and bluster can stop the bear and the dragon. the free lunch for the welfare warfare scum is over. zzzzz
good opportunity to kill three flies with one blow. as a croatian proverb says “never put all eggs in one basket”.