The US Maritime Administration issued a warning on Thursday cautioning commercial shipping vessels that Iran or its intermediaries could be focusing on commercial vessels and oil production infrastructure.
The notice comes as tensions between the two nations are mounting. what’s more, US intelligence demonstrates that Iran is likely moving short-range ballistic rockets on board boats in the Persian Gulf, as indicated by a few US authorities with direct knowledge of the situation.
“Since early May, there is an increased possibility that Iran and/or its regional proxies could take action against U.S. and partner interests, including oil production infrastructure, after recently threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz. Iran or its proxies could respond by targeting commercial vessels, including oil tankers, or U.S. military vessels in the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, or the Persian Gulf,” the warning read.
The warning is active until November 5, 2019.
On Sunday, US national security counsel John Bolton reported that the United States is sending the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in light of “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran.
On Thursday, CNN detailed that US intelligence demonstrates no indication of a “decrease in Iran’s posture” or the expectations that provoked the US to move the Navy strike group and B-52 bombers to the area, as per a US official with direct knowledge of the most recent intelligence.
“There is no intelligence to indicate a decrease in Iran’s posture or intentions,” the authority told CNN.
Iranian commandants have made “no wave-off” to Iranian-backed militias and Revolutionary Guard Corps elements to quit making arrangements for potential assaults against US forces in the region, the authority included.
“We are looking for anything to reflect a change in their behavior and are not seeing it,” the authority said.
