U.S. deploying carrier, bombers to Middle East to deter Iran: Bolton

  • Reuters | by: Matt Spetalnick, Idrees Ali |
  • 05/05/2019 12:00 AM
usS abraham lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier by U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Will Tyndall is licensed under Wikimedia Commons Public Domain
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 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 said on Sunday.

With tensions already high between Washington and Tehran, a U.S. official said the deployment has been 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.

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.
usS abraham lincoln Nimitz-class aircraft carrier by U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Will Tyndall is licensed under Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

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