Yemen brings US and Iran closer to a naval face-off.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the guided missile cruiser USS Normandy passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, joining seven other U.S. battleships in the area, including the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which includes a complement of more than 2,000 U.S. Marines.
“The focus is to make sure we have sufficient forces in the area to counter any threats,” said U.S. 5th Fleet spokesman Commander Kevin Stephens, adding that weapons smuggling is a concern. "If they were to have indications of weapons smuggling, there are a number of steps they could take,” he said.
Such measures could include “consensual boarding,” something the Navy did to a Panamanian-flagged vessel in the Red Sea that had been suspected of carrying arms, although nothing was found.
