US to move aircraft carrier out of Mideast amid Iran tension

AP | Washington

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

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 by the acting secretary of defence, Christopher Miller, came 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 US forces or interests.

Sending the aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, home to the US West Coast would seem at odds with the idea that a show of force is needed to deter Iran.

This might reflect a split within the defence 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 US had detected signs that Iran had made preparations for possible attacks on US or allied targets in Iraq or elsewhere in the Mideast.

This was the reason for dispatching two B-52 bombers from the US to briefly overfly 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 December 20 rocket attack on the US Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranian-supported Shiite militia groups, Trump tweeted that Iran was on notice.

“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,” Trump wrote on December 23. He added, “We hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq.”