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WASHINGTON (AP) – The Pentagon has decided to send home the Navy’s only aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that will reduce U.S. firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran.
The move, announced Thursday by Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, came a day after Air Force B-52 bombers flew non-stop from the United States to the Persian Gulf in a show of force which military officials said was intended to warn Iran against carrying out attacks against US forces or interests.
Sending the aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, home to the west coast of the United States seems at odds with the idea that a show of force is needed to deter Iran. This could reflect a division within the defense establishment over whether Iran poses an increased threat to strike in the final days of the Trump administration.
In announcing the decision to send the Nimitzes home, Miller made no mention of Iran.
Earlier this week, a US military officer familiar with the situation told reporters that the United States had detected signs that Iran had prepared for possible attacks on US or allied targets in Iraq or elsewhere. in the Middle-East. This is the reason two US B-52 bombers briefly flew over the Gulf on Wednesday, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments.
President Donald Trump recently cited “gossip” that Iran might strike. Days after a December 20 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranian-backed Shiite militias, Trump tweeted that Iran was on notice.
“Some friendly health advice to Iran: If an American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think about it, ”Trump wrote on December 23. He added: “We are hearing about additional attacks against the Americans in Iraq. “
The US concerns have been linked to the approach of the Jan. 3 anniversary of the US airstrike that killed Iran’s Commander-in-Chief, General Qassem Soleimani. Iran first retaliated with a ballistic missile strike on a military base in neighboring Iraq that caused dozens of concussion injuries, but no deaths among US troops. But US officials fear Iran will consider further retaliation.
Due to the potential for escalation that could lead to a larger war, the United States has sought to deter Iran from further attacks. Strategic calculations on both sides are further complicated by the political transition in Washington towards a Biden administration that may seek new avenues of dealing with Iran. President-elect Joe Biden has said, for example, that he hopes to bring the United States back to a 2015 deal with world powers in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
The United States has maintained a near-continuous aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf region since the dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2019, fearing that Iran is considering attacking US interests in the region. The United States also sent additional land-based attack jets and re-established a troop presence in Saudi Arabia.
The Nimitz was deployed from the United States in April and was due to return before the end of the year. In early December, his planned return was postponed, in part out of concern for potential Iranian threats, and more recently he was ordered to provide support off the coast of Somalia for the movement of US forces out of the country.
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