The Trump administration is deploying a carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East in response to "clear indications" that Iranian and Iranian proxy forces were preparing to possibly attack U.S. forces in the region, an American defense official told the Associated Press.
The defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said the Pentagon approved the deployments and that U.S. forces at sea and on land were thought to be the potential targets. The official declined to be more specific.
With tensions already high between Washington and Tehran, another U.S. official said the deployment was ordered "as a deterrence to what has been seen as potential preparations by Iranian forces and its proxies that may indicate possible attacks on U.S. forces in the region." However, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was not expecting any imminent Iranian attack.
National Security Adviser John Bolton said the carrier deployment was also to show that the U.S. will retaliate with "unrelenting force" to any attack on U.S. interests or those of its allies, adding that the move was in response to "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings."
Speaking to reporters while flying to Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the actions undertaken by the U.S. had been in the works for a little while.
"It is absolutely the case that we have seen escalatory actions from the Iranians and it is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests," Pompeo said. "If these actions take place, if they do by some third-party proxy, a militia group, Hezbollah, we will hold the Iranian leadership directly accountable for that."
Asked about "escalatory actions," Pompeo replied, "I don't want to talk about what underlays it, but make no mistake, we have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand how we will respond to actions they may take."
Asked if the Iranian action were related to the deadly events in Gaza and Israel, Pompeo said, "It is separate from that."
Bolton – who has spearheaded an increasingly hawkish U.S. policy on Iran – said the decision, which could exacerbate problems between the two countries, was meant to send a "clear and unmistakable message" of U.S. resolve to Tehran.
Though he cited no specific Iranian activities that have raised new concerns, Iran has recently warned it would block the Strait of Hormuz if it was barred from using the strategic waterway. About a fifth of the oil consumed globally passes 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, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or regular Iranian forces," Bolton said in a statement.
It marked the latest in a series of moves by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Iran in recent months.
Washington has said it will stop waivers for countries buying Iranian oil, in an attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. It has also blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, taking the unprecedented step of designating it as a foreign terrorist organization, which Iran has cast as an American provocation.
The Trump administration's efforts to impose political and economic isolation on Tehran began last year when it unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal it 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 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 said.
Bolton did not provide any further details.
A U.S. 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.
