Washington, May 7 (IANS): The Pentagon has decided to terminate its mission to accompany US-flagged cargo vessels in the Strait of Hormuz given that tensions with Iran in the region have receded.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren on Wednesday said that US warships will now limit their activities to routine maritime security operations in the waterway, reports Efe.

Since late April, US Navy vessels have been accompanying merchant ships on their passage through the strategic strait to guarantee that Iran would not block ocean traffic for US-flagged ships in the zone.

The decision was made after Iran boarded the cargo vessel Maersk Tigris, flying the Marshall Islands flag, and detained its crew arguing that the shipowner owes Tehran money and denying there were any geopolitical reasons behind the move.

The US Defense Department could have extended the escort mission, but top military officers decided not to do so.

The US had denounced Iran for provocative behaviuor in the strait linking the Persian Gulf with the waters of the Arabian Sea.

In April, Iranian patrol boats surrounded a US cargo vessel in the strait without boarding it.

The Pentagon never referred to the mission as an "escort" operation, given that US destroyers were not following the same courses as the commercial vessels, although the warships did remain close to the cargo ships during their transit of the strait.