The aircraft carrier, along with three destroyers, “are currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability,” US Central Command said on social media on Monday.
The strike group was in the Indian Ocean, Central Command said, not the Arabian Sea, which borders Iran. This will bring thousands of additional troops to the region, which has not had an American aircraft carrier since USS Gerald R. Ford was ordered in October to sail to the Caribbean as part of a pressure campaign on then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump told reporters last week that the ships were sent to the region “just in case.” “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and we may not need to use it,” he said.
Trump had previously threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful protesters during the crackdown on demonstrations that began in late December. At least 5,973 people have been killed and more than 41,800 detained, according to activists. THE official death toll in Iran is much lower, at 3,117 deaths.
More recently, Trump seemed to have retreated of possible action, saying Iran had stopped the hangings of 800 detained protesters. He did not specify the source of this assertion, which Iran’s top prosecutor called it “completely false.”
However, Trump appears to be keeping his options open. On Thursday, aboard Air Force One, he said his threat of military action I will do last year’s US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts” if the government carried out the planned execution of some protesters.
The aircraft carrier hosts several squadrons of aircraft, including F-35 Lightning II fighter jets and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. Meanwhile, the destroyers carry with them hundreds of missiles, which could include dozens of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
In addition to the aircraft carrier and its hardware, the U.S. military said the Air Force’s F-15E Strike Eagle fighter is now present in the region.
Analysts who track flight tracking data have noticed that dozens of U.S. military cargo planes are also heading to the region.
The activity is similar to last year, when the United States brought in air defense equipment, including a Patriot missile system, in anticipation of an Iranian counterattack following the war. bombing of three key nuclear sites. Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at Al Udeid air base days after the strikes.
