The Pentagon is planning for the possible deployment of additional U.S. forces to the Persian Gulf region in the event the threat from Iran worsens, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters Friday.
“When you look at the situation, a Norwegian ship, a Japanese ship, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the [United Araba Emirates] — 15% of the world’s oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz,” Shanahan said. “So we obviously need to make contingency plans should the situation deteriorate.”
Shanahan indicated the might make public more evidence of Iran’s complicity in the recent attack, and noted the release Thursday night of a surveillance video showing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard surreptitiously removing a unexploded mine from the hull of Japanese oil tanker was an example of the Pentagon’s “transparency” in providing information to back up its claims.
“The more information that we can declassify, the more information we can share, we will. And that’s our intent. And I think as you saw yesterday — doing it quickly.”
Shanahan did not answer a question about whether the U.S. would soon provide proof of the origin of the magnetic limpet mines that were used in Wednesday’s attacks against two merchant vessels.
