US deploying aircraft carrier and bombers to Middle East to deter Iran, says Bolton
The Trump administration’s latest decision could exacerbate tensions between Washington and Tehran
Washington — 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 US 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 US 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 US forces in the region”. However, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US was not expecting any imminent Iranian attack. 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. Though he cited no specific Iranian activities that have raised new concerns, Iran has ...
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