The U.S. has begun its largest naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The exercises, involving 15 warships and more than 100 planes, are to show U.S. capability to respond to threats to maritime security.
The country’s Navy Commander, Kevin Aandahl, said the maneuvers were not in response to the capture of the 15 British sailors by Iran, but that the Islamic Republic should see the exercises were for regional stability and security. However, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that the situation in the Persian Gulf is too strained for military exercises to be held there.‘The Persian Gulf is in such a troubled state today that any actions in the region, especially those with the use of the navy and other military forces, should, of course, take into account the need to prevent the worsening of the situation even further. It has already been heighten to the limit,’ he stated.