The biggest threat to the security of navigation in the Gulf maritime waters is from Iran, Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, the top admiral overseeing US Naval forces in the Middle East, warned Wednesday speaking to Al Arabiya in Washington.
Cooper, who is the commander of the US Naval Forces Central Command, US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Force, explains that threats that they see do come from Iran and in two forms: the growth and capability and numbers of missiles – cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and UAVs – as well as their use of proxies in those particular weapons.
Cooper, who is also in charge of the CMF – a naval force of 34 member nations operating in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean – pointed to the risks emanating from Iran’s drone program and the technology it provides its regional proxies.
The 5th Fleet commander pointed out that the force under his command has played a vital role in foiling drug and weapons smuggling in recent years.
In this year’s biggest illegal drug interdiction in the Middle East by international naval forces, according to data, last month alone the US Navy seized $85 million worth of heroin from a fishing vessel.
The Navy also seized $10 million (7,200 kg) worth of hashish from another fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman only two days later.
However, the efforts of the US and its regional allies are also constantly focused on looking out for illicit weapons transfers on the sea.
The Navy patrol ships interdicted in December 2021 a fishing vessel they believed to have been heading to Yemen from Iran carrying 1,400 Russian rifles and 226,600 rounds of ammunition.
Tehran is continually sending the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen logistical, financial, and military support and according to the CMF data quoted by Cooper, US Navy last year saw the highest percentage of Iranian weapons confiscated – three times more than the previous year.
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