The United States announced Sunday night it had deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a number of bombers to West Asia to “send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime” that any attack on American interest or allies will be met with “unrelenting force”.
The United States announced Sunday night it had deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a number of bombers to West Asia to “send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime” that any attack on American interest or allies will be met with “unrelenting force”.
The announcement, which came in a statement from National Security Adviser John Bolton, did not cite specific threats or the provocation and only said it was in response to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings”.
“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” Bolton said.
US media reported citing officials the deployment followed after top-level discussion over the weekend and it was based on intelligence about a specific threat — Iran and its proxies had been noticed moving assets on land and at sea, reportedly.
On his way to Finland, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters, “We have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand how we will respond to actions that they may take.” He refused to elaborate and added that the deployment had nothing situation with Gaza.
The US has despatched USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike and a bomber task force. US navy describes a carrier strike group as its “largest operational unit” and says it is made roughy of an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a flotilla of between six and 10 destroyers and/or frigates, 65 to 70 aircraft, and roughly 7,500 personnel.
The announcement of the deployment followed just days after the Trump administration declared Iran’s IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, which was the first time the United States had designated a government body.
The Trump administration has turned up pressure on Iran to force it give up entirely its nuclear weapons programme — and not just suspend it — and the missiles programme and cease “malign” activities in the region. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran deal unilaterally in 2018 and slapped back sanctions that had been lifted after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (as the deal is officially known), which went into effect in 2016.
The announcement, which came in a statement from National Security Adviser John Bolton, did not cite specific threats or the provocation and only said it was in response to a “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings”.
“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” Bolton said.
US media reported citing officials the deployment followed after top-level discussion over the weekend and it was based on intelligence about a specific threat — Iran and its proxies had been noticed moving assets on land and at sea, reportedly.
On his way to Finland, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters, “We have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand how we will respond to actions that they may take.” He refused to elaborate and added that the deployment had nothing situation with Gaza.
The US has despatched USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike and a bomber task force. US navy describes a carrier strike group as its “largest operational unit” and says it is made roughy of an aircraft carrier, at least one cruiser, a flotilla of between six and 10 destroyers and/or frigates, 65 to 70 aircraft, and roughly 7,500 personnel.
The announcement of the deployment followed just days after the Trump administration declared Iran’s IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, which was the first time the United States had designated a government body.
The Trump administration has turned up pressure on Iran to force it give up entirely its nuclear weapons programme — and not just suspend it — and the missiles programme and cease “malign” activities in the region. President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran deal unilaterally in 2018 and slapped back sanctions that had been lifted after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (as the deal is officially known), which went into effect in 2016.