United States to withdraw aircraft carrier from Middle East amid tensions with Iran

The military is bringing back the Navy’s only aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East amid simmering tensions with Iran, Defense Department officials said Thursday.

Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller “ordered the USS Nimitz to transit directly to his home to complete a nearly 10-month deployment,” according to a Pentagon statement.

The aircraft carrier was in the area to provide air cover during troop withdrawals in Afghanistan and Somalia.

The decision to withdraw it from the Middle East comes a day after the US military flew two B-52H bombers over the Persian Gulf in an attempt to deter Iran from any attack on US troops in the region. . It was the second time this month that the Pentagon has carried out such a mission in the region.

A senior US military official also told reporters that intelligence reports indicate that Iran may want to avenge the murder of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani with an attack on the first anniversary of his death. President TrumpDonald Trump Trump cuts his trip to Florida short and returns to Washington on Thursday Intel vice president says the cyberattack on a government agency “ may have started earlier. ” ordered a drone strike on Soleimani near Baghdad airport on January 3.

But the Nimitz’s return to the United States appears to be backing down on the recent American show of force, indicating that there may be a split within the Pentagon over the threat Iran poses to the United States and its interests.

Iran is suspected of being behind the December 20 rocket attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, which included 21 missiles that killed at least one Iraqi civilian and damaged the embassy compound .

The strike, the largest such attack on the Iraqi capital’s green zone in a decade, prompted Trump to threaten Iran via a tweet.

“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If an American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think about it,” he wrote on Twitter on December 23.

Officials now fear Iran is planning additional attacks, which Tehran has repelled, accusing Trump of trying to create a “pretext for war” with B-52 flights.

“Instead of fighting Covid in the United States, @realDonaldTrump and his cohorts are wasting billions stealing B52s and sending armadas to OUR region. Iraqi intelligence points to a plot to MAKE a pretext for war, ”Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted Thursday. “Iran is not seeking war but will defend OPENING AND DIRECTLY its people, its security and its vital interests.”