US forces will pursue Iran-linked ships in waters well outside the Middle East, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday, specifically mentioning the Indo-Pacific.
The Pacific region, especially anchorages in and around the Strait of Malacca, is home to some of the largest concentrations of the dark fleet tankers that move illegal or sanctioned oil from countries like Iran, according to Lloydslist.com.
“We are also conducting similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific AOR (area of responsibility) against those ships that left that area before we began the blockade,” Caine said.
Charlie Brown, senior advisor of dark fleet tracking at the nonprofit United Against Nuclear Iran and a former US Navy officer, told CNN Caine’s language and some US warship movement monitored on ship tracking platforms and satellite imagery suggest Washington may be considering operations similar to what it used against tankers linked to Venezuela during a quarantine of that country earlier this year.
“The US previously interdicted sanctioned tankers far from the immediate area of Venezuela, including in the Indian Ocean,” Brown said.
“That’s where I would expect similar activity: in international waters where the US has operational freedom of maneuver and fewer constraints,” he said.
CNN has reached out the 7th Fleet regarding the movements of the USS Miguel Keith, which satellite imagery showed was heading toward the Strait of Malacca as of Thursday local time.
The USS Miguel Keith, a massive vessel almost as big as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, left Sasebo in Japan on April 8.
The ship briefly stopped in Singaporean waters on Friday before continuing through the Strait of Malacca in the evening.
It’s known as an expeditionary sea base, and among its missions are airborne mine countermeasures and special operations, according to a Marine Corps release.
In his statement Thursday, Caine noted the busy conditions near the Strait of Hormuz, calling it “incredibly congested” and praising US forces for executing the blockade operation in such conditions.