By Desmond Nleya
WASHINGTON — The United States is deploying about 2,000 Marines to the Middle East as tensions around Iran escalate following an attack on a supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
A US official told Al Jazeera that three aircraft carriers and two amphibious assault groups are being deployed around Iran. The USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group and the USS Makin Island force, carrying about 2,000 Marines, have departed San Diego, with the wider military buildup expected to be completed by November.
Meanwhile, UK Maritime Trade Operations reported that a 2.5-million-barrel supertanker was struck by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The vessel caught fire following the incident.
The developments come amid heightened security concerns in the region.
In Britain, counterterrorism police arrested a 27-year-old British-Iranian dual national in connection with an alleged security incident at an airbase in southwest England.
In Yemen, Houthi fighters launched intensified attacks across front lines in Taiz governorate as the group seeks to consolidate gains from its recent offensive along the Red Sea coast. Yemeni government forces said they had held their positions and inflicted heavy losses on the Houthis.
