US deploying carrier and bomber task force in response to 'troubling' Iran actions

The United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in response to a "number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran, US national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday.To get more world news, you can visit shine news official website.
A US official with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN the threats were against both US maritime and land-based forces in the region. The deployments are aimed specifically at deterring any Iranian military actions, the official added.
In a written statement released by the White House, Bolton said the US was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region in the Middle East "to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force." The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces," the statement continued.
Two US officials told CNN that the very public statements are aimed at deterring Iran. There is no indication any action by Iran is imminent.
In comments made Sunday night, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the deployments have been in the works for "a little while."We will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests. And the fact that ... if those actions take place, if they do by some third-party proxy, a Shiite militia group, the Houthis or Hezbollah, we will hold the Iranian leadership directly accountable for that," said Pompeo.
The US announcement comes on the heels several recent events that have increased US-Iran tensions, said Nishank Motwani, a visiting fellow at the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy in Australia.
Those include the US designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran's most powerful military institution, a terrorist organization, and Iran responding with the same designation for the US military's Central Command, which oversees the Middle East region; and the US eliminating waivers for some countries to buy Iranian oil and avoid US sanctions, Motwani said.On the oil issue, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said two weeks ago that Iran would continue to sell its oil on world markets and the US should not try to stop it.
"If the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that," Zarif said, "then it should be prepared for the consequences."
US security officials at that time expressed concern that Tehran could respond asymmetrically by targeting US facilities and personnel around the Middle East.
But Motwani said that would be a bad idea for Tehran.
"I don't think it's in Iran's interest to escalate tensions. It would give the US a reason to take on Iran," he said.
And that might cause Iran to lose support its trying to maintain among European countries who have stuck to the Iran nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump abandoned.
On the oil issue, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said two weeks ago that Iran would continue to sell its oil on world markets and the US should not try to stop it.
"If the United States takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that," Zarif said, "then it should be prepared for the consequences."
US security officials at that time expressed concern that Tehran could respond asymmetrically by targeting US facilities and personnel around the Middle East.
But Motwani said that would be a bad idea for Tehran.
"I don't think it's in Iran's interest to escalate tensions. It would give the US a reason to take on Iran," he said.
And that might cause Iran to lose support its trying to maintain among European countries who have stuck to the Iran nuclear deal that US President Donald Trump abandoned.