The U.S. is deploying a destroyer and fighter aircraft including F-35s to the Persian Gulf in response to Iranian seizures and harassment in and around the Strait of Hormuz, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Monday.
The decision to send more military muscle — including the added destroyer, the USS Thomas Hudner — comes after several recent encounters between U.S. and Iranian vessels.
In one incident this month, a U.S. destroyer chased away two ships from the Iranian Navy in the Gulf of Oman that were trying to seize two oil tankers, the Associated Press reported.
