“Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. They’ve done that previously in years past. They saw the international community put — dozens of nations of the international community put their naval forces in for exercises to clear the straits. Clearly, this would be an attack on international shipping, and — and it would have, obviously, an international response to reopen the shipping lanes with whatever that took, because of the world’s economy depends on that energy, those energy supplies flowing out of there.” Secretary of Defense James Mattis, 3 August 2018
The Iranian Navy commenced its annual military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) in charge of the operation’s implementation. More than 100 Iranian ships and small vessels were assembled. The purpose of the exercise was to maintain security in the Strait and demonstrate Iran’s prowess and counter any adversary threats, Iranian news agency Tasnim reported. This year’s exercise is larger than those in the past, stabilizing the region and providing assurance to the GCC and Israel is of critical importance in light of escalating rhetoric between the United States and Iran, starting with the United States withdrawal from the JCPOA on May 8th of this year and the reinstatement of U.S. sanctions today on Iran.
The United States power projection in the Arabian Sea region is more than capable and extensive in Air superiority and dominance to deter and negate any Iranian provocation and aggression from its armada. Iran’s weapons of choice are ballistic missiles and rockets which they continue to proliferate and endow with mass quantities their ballistic missile forces, along with exporting arms to terrorist groups such as the Houthis who have fired over 500 ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia. To ensure the region’s stability and prevent conflict, the United States and its GCC Allies rely heavily on the deterrence of their Missile Defense systems. Today the United States has the most Patriot Air Defense Capacity deployed to include Korea around the world, in this region with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies that border the Arabian Sea directly adjacent from Iran. All of the U.S. Patriot Missile Defense systems deployed around the Arabian Sea and those of our GCC Allies defend Air Bases and critical commands that project Air power and superiority to the region. The United States also has at minimum one Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ship deployed in these waters, commanded by the U.S. 5th Fleet out of Bahrain. GCC THAAD batteries add another layer to the defensive capabilities of the region, providing a much wider, in depth and layered theater-wide defense.
To ensure the region’s stability and prevent conflict, the United States and its GCC Allies rely heavily on the defense and deterrence of their Missile Defense systems.
Missile Defense is making the world a safer place.
