India, March 19 -- India is deploying more warships to the Gulf of Oman for the safe passage of its fuel carriers as it expects Iran to allow them to pass through the Strait of Hormuz that is the centre of military tensions amid the war in West Asia, people aware of the development said on Wednesday.

The additional deployment will take the number of Indian warships in the wider region east to the strait to six to seven, they said, asking not to be named.

Earlier this week, an Indian warship escorted an India-flagged oil tanker out of the Gulf of Oman to the country's west coast after it sailed from the Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The US and Israel's attack on Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a c...