U.S. sending destroyer and fighter jets to Strait of Hormuz

The United States is sending a naval destroyer and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and F-16 fighter jets to the Strait of Hormuz to monitor the waterway after several "alarming" actions from Iran, according to the Pentagon.

Sabrina Singh, the department’s deputy press secretary, said the deployments to U.S. Central Command’s area of operations are related to the Iranian navy’s July 5 attempts to seize merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The length of the deployment has not been specified.

Singh said CENTCOM would announce when the deployments were underway.

“We’ve seen Iran continue to engage in destabilizing activity,” she said. “This was a decision that the secretary along with the CENTCOM commander made in terms of sending assets to the region that they felt was important to do at this time.”

The destroyer and the fighters, Singh said, will ensure freedom of navigation and protect U.S. interests in the region. Nearly one-fifth of all the world’s oil moves through the Strait of Hormuz.