US, allies planning naval escort for Gulf tankers: Pentagon

Washington:

The United States and its allies are discussing plans to provide naval escorts for oil tankers through the Gulf, a top US general said Thursday after Iranian military vessels menaced a British tanker.

General Mark Milley, nominated to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate hearing that the US has a “crucial role” in enforcing freedom of navigation in the Gulf.

He said the US was attempting to put together a coalition “in terms of providing military escort, naval escort to commercial shipping,” he said. “I think that that will be developing over the next couple weeks.