E-Paper
US aircraft carrier in Middle East amid Iran tensions: What Trump's ‘just in case’ fleet means for region
According to the US Central Command, the strike group is currently in the Indian Ocean, and not in the Arabian Sea which borders Iran.
United States has sent an aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, along with three accompanying warships, in the Middle East as tensions with Iran continue amid nationwide protests against the Ayatollah Khamenei-led regime.
According to the US Central Command, the strike group is currently in the Indian Ocean, and not in the Arabian Sea which borders Iran. In a post on social media platform X, the Central Command posted photographs of sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln performing routine maintenance.
What does the deployment of USS Abraham Lincoln mean?
The US Central Command, in its post on X, said the ‘Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group’ was currently deployed in the Middle East to “promote regional security and stability.”
The strike group brings thousands of additional service members to the region, which has not witnessed a US carrier deployment since the USS Gerald R. Ford was ordered in October to sail to the Caribbean as part of the pressure tactic against now captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the Associated Press reported.
United States President Donald Trump had last week told reporters that the ships had been sent to the region “just in case”, while saying that the US may not use it.
“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said, according to AP.
The aircraft carrier has multiple squadrons of aircraft, including F-35 Lightning II fighter jets and F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets. The destroyers bring with them hundreds of missiles, which could include dozens of Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles, AP reported.
The US President had, previously, threatened military action against Iran if it carried out mass executions of prisoners or repressed peaceful demonstrators during a crackdown on protests which began last month.
Classified documents reviewed by Iran International have revealed that more than 36,500 Iranians were killed in the January 8-9 crackdown on protests in the country.
Meanwhile, Iran has unveiled a mural warning targeting the US, which shows an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck, which is strewn with bodies and streaked with blood that spills into the water behind the ship to form the American flag's stripes pattern. A slogan is also written across one corner: “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.”
However, tensions have seen as a de-escalation in recent days, with Trump seeming to back away from possible action while claiming that Iran had halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters. However, the US President did not elaborate on the alleged halting, which Iran’s top prosecutor termed as “completely false.”
