The US is considering military options to address “Russian aggression in the skies over Syria,” an unnamed Pentagon official has declared, further voicing rising concerns about “growing ties between Iran, Russia and Syria across the Middle East.”

“The Russian military activity, which has increased in frequency and aggression since March, stems from growing cooperation and coordination between Moscow, Tehran and the Syrian government to try to pressure the US to leave Syria,” said an American “senior defense official” who spoke on condition of anonymity as cited in an AP report on Saturday.

Speaking to Pentagon reporters on Friday, further threatened increased deployment of US F-16 fighter jets to the Persian Gulf in a purported effort to “protect ships” around the strategic Strait of Hormuz from what he claimed as “Iranian seizures” in a apparent referral to the recent confiscation of a foreign oil tanker smuggling Iranian fuel by Iranian naval forces despite attempts by US military forces to intervene.

The US official refused to tell what the options the US is considering against Russia are.

This comes as the Syrian government led by President Bashar Assad has repeatedly urged the US forces to leave the country.

However, the unknown Pentagon official insisted that the US will continue to fly sorties in the western part of Syria.

The Pentagon official also said that the “growing cooperation” between Russia, Syria, and Iran is aimed at driving the US out of Syria once and for all.

Earlier this month, the US Air Forces Central commander Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich claimed that Russian fighter jets had “harassed” American MQ-9 Reaper drones over Syria on three separate occasions in a week.

The incident took place at a time when the Russian Air Force was conducting joint exercises with its Syrian counterpart, with Moscow accusing the US of violating restricted airspace with the drone flights.

Since 2014, the US has deployed forces and military equipment in Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate under the pretext of fighting the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.

The American forces have thus far sustained their illegal presence on the Syrian soil although Damascus and its allies defeated Daesh in late 2019.

The US military claims its presence in Syria is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh.

Damascus, however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s natural resources. Former President Donald Trump of the United States admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.

Russia, alongside Iran, has assisted Syrian forces in battles across the conflict-plagued country, mainly by providing aerial support to ground operations against foreign-backed terrorists.