[caption id="attachment_155599" align="alignright" width="199"] The United States and its allies are ratcheting up their military presence in the Persian Gulf as the final weeks wind down before the deadline for a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.[/caption]

The United States and its allies are ratcheting up their military presence in the Persian Gulf as the final weeks wind down before the deadline for a framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Earlier this week, U.S. Central Command — which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East — announced that 3,000 U.S. forces would conduct a major exercise in Kuwait and its territorial waters right across from Iran from March 8 to March 31. U.S. troops will be joined on the exercise by forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.

The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — some of whom see Iran as an adversary.

The dates of the military exercise sandwich the framework-agreement deadline of March 24.

This article was written by  Kristina Wong for The Hill on Mar. 15, 2015.