U.S. TO SEND HOME AIRCRAFT CARRIER AMID IRAN TENSION
The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that will reduce American firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran.
The decision, announced Thursday by the acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, came one day after Air Force B-52 bombers flew nonstop from the United States to the Persian Gulf in a show of force that military officials said was intended to caution Iran against carrying out attacks against U.S. forces or interests.
Sending the aircraft carrier Nimitz home to Washington state would seem at odds with the idea that a show of force is needed to deter Iran. This might ref lect a split within the defense establishment on whether Iran poses a heightened threat to strike in the waning days of the Trump administration.
In announcing the decision to send the Nimitz home, Miller made no mention of Iran.
Earlier this week, an American military officer close to the situation told reporters that the U.S. had detected signs that Iran had made preparations for possible attacks on U.S. or allied targets in Iraq or elsewhere in the Mideast. This was the reason for dispatching two B-52 bombers from the U.S. to brief ly overf ly the Gulf on Wednesday, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments.
President Donald Trump recently cited “chatter” that Iran might strike. Days after a Dec. 20 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranian-supported Shiite militia groups, Trump tweeted that Iran was on notice.