The Trump istration is sending an aircraft carrier and bomber group to the Middle East, in response to troubling "indications and warnings" from Iran and to show that the US will retaliate with "relentless force" to any attack.
With tensions already high between Washington and Tehran, a US official said the deployment was ordered "as a deterrent to what have been seen as potential preparations by Iranian forces and their proxies that could indicate possible attacks on US forces in the region.”, said an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, he stressed that the United States did not expect any imminent Iranian attack.
While he didn't mention specific Iranian activities that raised new concerns, Iran recently warned it would blockade the Strait of Hormuz if prevented from using the strategic waterway. About a fifth of the oil consumed globally es through the strait.
“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or by regular Iranian forces”, Bolton said in a statement.
It marked the latest in a series of moves by President Donald Trump's istration aimed at increasing pressure on Iran in recent months.
Washington has said it will suspend waivers for countries that buy Iranian oil in a bid to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. He also blacklisted Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, taking the unprecedented step of designating it a foreign terrorist organization, which Iran launched as an American provocation.
IMPLACABLE FORCE
The Trump istration's efforts to impose political and economic isolation on Tehran began last year, when it unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal, which the US and other world powers negotiated with Iran in 2015.
“The United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force in the US Central Command region to send a clear and unequivocal message to the Iranian regime that any attack on the interests of the United States or our allies will be met with relentless force”Bolton said.
Bolton did not provide further details.
A US Navy statement released early last month said the aircraft carrier and accompanying convoy of ships left Norfolk, Va., on April 1, "but had no destination at the time."
While it is not uncommon for the United States to have aircraft carriers in the Middle East, Bolton's language could escalate tensions.
The threat late last month by the IRGC to close the Strait of Hormuz followed the US announcement that it would end waivers granted last year to eight buyers of Iranian oil and requiring them to stop buying by May 1 or face sanctions.
European governments have opposed Washington's re-imposition of sanctions against Iran. A senior Trump istration official said at the time that any aggressive move by Iran into the strait would be unwarranted and unacceptable.
Iran has made threats to block the waterway in the past without acting on them.
Source: Reuters
