Iran Press/America: US President Donald Trump administration is deploying a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to troubling “indications and warnings” from Iran and to show the United States will retaliate with “unrelenting force” to any attack, national security adviser John Bolton claimed on Sunday.
Bolton - who has spearheaded an increasingly hawkish US policy on Iran - said the decision, which could exacerbate problems between the two countries, was meant to send a “clear and unmistakable message” of US resolve to Tehran, Reuters reported.
“The United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the U.S. Central Command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force,” Bolton claimed.
Bolton did not provide any further details.
A US Navy statement issued early last month said the aircraft carrier and its accompanying convoy of ships had steamed out of Norfolk, Virginia, on April 1 “for a regularly scheduled deployment”, but it did not give any destination at the time.
While it is not rare for the United States to have aircraft carriers in the Middle East, Bolton’s language could increase tensions.
On May 02, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: "Iran is not seeking increasing tensions with the US but we will not allow that country to destabilise the Strait of Hormuz."
On Apr. 28, Zarif warned that the B Team, made up of US national security adviser John Bolton, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, UAE Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Zayed and Israeli regime prime minister Bibi Netanyahu, is pushing the United States towards a war with Iran. 101/211/201
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