Iraq, Kuwait, and the United States completed a second joint patrol in the Arabian Gulf

Commander U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs stated in a press release on December 12 that maritime forces from Iraq, Kuwait, and the United States completed a joint patrol in the Arabian Gulf on Dec. 11. This marked the second time in four months that the three nations had sailed together to promote regional maritime security.

The mine countermeasures ship USS Dextrous (MCM 13) of the U.S. Navy collaborated with ships from the Iraqi Navy and Kuwait Coast Guard. Drills for maritime security and maneuvering were carried out by the vessels.

The minesweeper Dextrous joined warships from Kuwait and Iraq on a short patrol inside the Persian Gulf, as per the US 5th Fleet in Bahrain. According to a spokesperson Cmdr. Timothy A. Hawkins for the 5th Fleet, the trio carried out maneuvering and maritime security drills in the northern waters of the Gulf on Sunday, December 11.

Like Kuwaiti and Iraqi authorities, he followed a long-standing US policy of declining to name the vessels that went with Dextrous or to list their classes. A blurry aerial image of the Avenger-class minesweeper steaming alongside two smaller Iraqi and Kuwaiti patrol craft was released by US Navy officials.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, and Combined Maritime Forces, stated, “Partnerships are at the foundation of maritime security and stability in the Middle East. Our continued collaboration reflects our collective commitment to safeguarding regional waters.”

The Iraqi navy and Kuwaiti coast guard, which works as a seaborne extension of the national police, directed a similar journey in the Persian Gulf on Aug. 25 close by the US Navy’s patrol ship Sirocco and the US Coast Guard fast-response cutter Charles Moulthrope, as indicated by the US 5th Fleet.

On August 25, the three countries carried out a similar patrol in the Arabian Gulf. Both the USCGC Charles Moulthrope (WPC 1141) and the US Navy’s patrol coastal ship USS Sirocco (PC 6) participated.

Dextrous is a mine countermeasures ship of the Avenger class that is designed to remove mines from vital waterways. The ship is forward-deployed to Bahrain, where the U.S. 5th Fleet is headquartered.

The most recent patrol comes as Iran-related tensions in the region are rising. Iran, along with Kuwait and Iraq, shares the northern stretches of the Persian Gulf.

According to US Central Command, on Dec. 5, the crew of an Iranian gunboat shined a searchlight across the bridge of the expeditionary sea base platform Lewis B. Puller, which was traveling alongside the guided-missile destroyer The Sullivans through the Strait of Hormuz during a potentially hazardous transit.

According to the US 5th Fleet, that potentially fatal incident occurred just four days after a boarding party from the Lewis B. Puller seized an unflagged fishing trawler sailing the Gulf of Oman loaded with contraband arms bound for Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The latest joint patrol by a US warship with crews from Kuwait and Iraq has not been reported by Iran’s state-run media.

The Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean are all part of the U.S. 5th Fleet’s operating area, as are three crucial chokepoints at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb, and Suez Canal.