The United States and its allies will conduct a minesweeping exercise scheduled for September in the waters of the Middle East, intended to increase relevant capabilities and cooperation, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said on Tuesday.

Little claimed that the maneuver "is not an exercise aimed to deliver a message to Iran," adding that "it's an international symposium and exercise of mine countermeasures conducted in multiple locations in the [US Naval Forces Central Command] area of operations."

He also said that the exercise is aimed at "preserving freedom of navigation in the international waterways of the Middle East" and "promoting regional stability."

The International Mines Countermeasures Exercise is scheduled to run from Sept. 16 through Sept. 27, and will involve more than 20 nations across four continents.

Scenarios will focus on a hypothetical threat from an " extremist organization" mining the international strategic waterways of the Middle East, the Central Command said in a statement.

There will be scenario-based exercises held in the Gulf, but they will not extend to the Strait of Hormuz near Iran. Exercises will take place in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman, according to the statement.