Amid saber rattling in the Persian Gulf — and whether an Iranian proxy might attack U.S. interests or President Donald Trump might attack Iran — the Hawaii-based cruiser USS Port Royal made a highly advertised passage of the Strait of Hormuz and was reportedly in Bahrain for the new year, probably on very high alert.
Pearl Harbor’s sole remaining cruiser, with a crew of more than 330, transited the strait entering the Persian Gulf on Dec. 21 with the Ohio-class guided missile submarine USS Georgia and cruiser USS Philippine Sea.
The Navy usually provides only notice of its submarine sailing routes to send a message to an adversary. In this case U.S. Central Command noted in a release that the USS Georgia can carry up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
On Wednesday two Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota made a “deliberate appearance in the Middle East” to underscore the U.S. military’s commitment to regional security “and demonstrate a unique ability to rapidly deploy overwhelming combat power on short notice,” U.S. Central Command said.
The bombers and F-16 fighters flew over the Persian Gulf. The U.S. military said it was the third such bomber deployment to the region in 45 days.
Tensions are high in part with the upcoming first anniversary on Sunday of the American drone strike that killed Iranian senior military commander Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
A Dec. 20 attack with 21 rockets on the Green Zone in Iraq, meanwhile, which damaged buildings in the U.S. Embassy compound, “was almost certainly conducted by an Iranian-backed rogue militia group,” U.S. Central Command said.
American intelligence in recent days detected Iranian air defenses, maritime forces and other security forces on higher alert, but it was unclear whether that was because Iran or one of its proxies was preparing to strike or if it was preparation should Trump order a preemptive attack, The New York Times said.
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The newspaper reported in November that Trump was talked out of a military strike — either missile or cyber — on Iran’s main nuclear site.
“Things are tense with Iran right now, but the Iranians generally are very prudent in their national actions. Their surrogates are easy and less risky tools,” said Carl Schuster, a retired Navy captain, former director of operations at U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center and adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University.
The Navy ship-tracking website uscarriers.net reported that the USS Port Royal was berthed Wednesday at Mina Salman Port in Manama, Bahrain, for New Year’s Eve.
“Bahrain’s security services have a very good handle on things,” Schuster said. “Bahrain maintains an exclusion zone around our ships. You can say the same for Oman and the (United Arab Emirates). Having said that, rocket attacks are possible, but unlike Saudi Arabia and Iraq, there is not a lot of remote ground from which to hide and launch such attacks.”
The Port Royal “is in a tense place with some risk of a terrorist attack, but she’s not facing a direct Iranian threat,” Schuster added. “Again, Iran is very careful and measured in their provocations against us. They don’t hit U.S. territory, and ships count as national territory.”
Besides that, Schuster said, Iran is hoping the incoming Biden administration will reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Iran nuclear agreement, and lift sanctions. “An attack would unravel that, at least for a while,” Schuster said.
The Port Royal said on its Facebook page that while operating in the Northern Arabian Sea, ship crew members spotted a vessel without a flag.
Making a check, Port Royal team members found fishing gear on the boat that was dry. They also found false walls and floors. When nets and fishing gear were removed, the team discovered containers of white crystal material and large burlap sacks of a fine yellow substance, the Facebook post said.
Further testing identified the substances to be heroin and methamphetamine. The Port Royal team confiscated approximately 1,000 pounds of narcotics during the bust, according to the post.
