A political commentator says a United States-planned force seeking to sail in the Persian Gulf would be a prelude to the enforcement of a blockade against Iran.

Author and commentator Nasir al-Omari said on Press TV’s The Debate program on Saturday that although the plan has been presented to the US’s allies as a means of protecting the vessels sailing across the Hormuz Strait, “I think that the world understands that these moves are really intended to be a blockade of Iran.”

“Once you have these warships, then this turns quickly into a blockade,” he said.

The US has said the naval force would be ensuring the safety of foreign vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz in the strategic Persian Gulf. However, key Washington allies Germany and Japan have refused to join, and France has expressed reservations.

Omari said the rejection of the American initiative was “a positive indication” that the international community was not rushing toward a confrontation with Iran.

In order to tackle the standing escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran at its root, he said, one has to aim for the underlying cause of the situation.

“The root problem has not been solved, and that is the sanctions against Iran,” Omari said.

Washington left a multilateral nuclear accord with Tehran and other states last year and re-imposed the sanctions that the deal had lifted. It has since been imposing further sanctions as well.

Keith Preston, an independent journalist and researcher who was also on the program, referred to Japan and Germany’s refusal to be part of the force and said, “The US’s alliances are far weaker than perceived.”

He said Tokyo and Berlin had refused because of Washington’s performance in the past, when it left the nuclear agreement with Iran “against the objection of virtually every US ally” and engaged in “disastrous” regional military interventions.