Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters late Friday that a potential confrontation between a convoy of Iranian ships and nine U.S. warships sent to respond to them in a show of force was averted though communication between the two nations via “diplomatic channels.”
Carter didn’t elaborate on what intermediaries were used, but said the de-escalation was “a welcome event.”
Throughout the week, tension escalated in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden, just off the coast of Yemen, as the convoy was first reported sailing from the Persian Gulf toward Yemen. When asked during the week, the Pentagon said the U.S. was not in communication with Iran about the convoy and did not know what its intentions were.
The convoy was suspected of carrying arms and supplies for Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who overthrew the government there last month. To counter the rebel attacks, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of other Arab nations have conducted a series of airstrikes against the rebels, with the U.S. supporting that effort by providing refueling and intelligence assistance.
Midweek, the U.S. announced that its aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt, its escort the guided-missile cruiser the USS Normandy, the big-deck amphibious warship the USS Iwo Jima and a complement of U.S. destroyers and mine counter measure ships were about 200 miles away from the convoy and were “monitoring” it.
On Friday, the Pentagon confirmed the Iranian ships had turned away from Yemen. The ships were moving northeast, back toward the direction of Iran.
On Saturday, CNN reported that the Roosevelt had entered the Persian Gulf to conduct maritime operations, the same direction the Iranian convoy had been heading.
“The ships have turned around. I can certainly repeat that,” Carter said in a transcript of a media availability during his flight back to Washington. “Obviously what there [sic] onward plans are, we don’t know. It is a welcome event, because it does contribute to de-escalation.”
Carter said the U.S. and Iran were in communication through the event.
“We are in touch with them through diplomatic channels, and urging that in the same way we’re urging all the other parties, let’s de-escalate here,” Carter said.
