DUBAI — Four US minesweepers have arrived in the Gulf to bolster the US Fifth Fleet and ensure the safety of shipping routes, the US Navy said, as an Iranian military chief suggested Monday that Iran might try to block the Strait of Hormuz to defend its interests.



The four additional mine countermeasures (MCM) ships arrived Saturday and are scheduled for a seven-month deployment in an area of operations that includes the Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.



The area also includes two other critical shipping choke points of the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab Al-Mandab between the southern tip of Yemen and Africa.



“MCM ships conduct operations with coalition forces in order to ensure the continued, safe flow of maritime traffic in international waterways,” the US Navy said in a statement late Sunday. — Reuters