WASHINGTON: The United States will send additional F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, along with a warship to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Monday, in a bid to monitor key waterways in the region following `Iran`s seizure and harassment` of commercial shipping vessels in recent months.

In May, the White House had announced that the Biden administration would be making a series of moves in the region, but at the time did not say what it would include.

`The (Pentagon) is increasing our presence and ability to monitor the (Strait of Hormuz) and surrounding waters,` Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Earlier this month, the US navy said it had `intervened to prevent Iran from seizing` two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Since 2019, there have been a series of attacks on shipping in strategic Gulf waters at times of tension between the United States and Iran.

About a fifth of the world`s crude oil and oil products passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point between Iran and Oman.-Reuters