The military is bringing back the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East amid latent tensions with Iran, Department of Defense officials said on Thursday.
Acting defense secretary Chris Miller “has determined that the USS Nimitz will move directly home to complete a nearly 10-month deployment,” according to a Pentagon statement.
The aircraft carrier was in the region to provide air coverage during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Somalia.
The decision to remove it from the Middle East came a day after the US military flew two B-52H bombers over the Persian Gulf in an effort to prevent Iran from any attack on American troops in the region. That was the second time this month that the Pentagon flew with such a mission over the region.
A senior US military official also told reporters that intelligence reports indicate that Iran may want to avenge the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani with an attack on the one-year anniversary of his death. President Trump
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But returning Nimitz to the United States appears to be going backwards in the recent US show of strength, indicating that there may be a division within the Pentagon as to the degree of threat that Iran poses to the United States and its interests.
Iran is suspected of being behind the December 20 rocket attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad, which included 21 missiles that killed at least one Iraqi civilian and damaged the embassy complex.
The strike, the biggest attack on the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone in a decade, prompted Trump to threaten Iran via a tweet.
“Iran-friendly health advice: if an American is killed, I will hold Iran accountable. Think about it,” he wrote on Twitter on December 23.
Authorities now fear that Iran may be planning additional attacks, which Tehran has postponed, accusing Trump of trying to create a “pretext for war” with B-52 flights.
“Instead of fighting Covid in the US, @realDonaldTrump & cohorts waste billions to fly B52s and send guns to OUR region. Iraq’s intelligence indicates conspiracy to MAKE a pretext for war, ”Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted on Thursday. “Iran does not seek war, but it will OPEN and DIRECTLY defend its people, security and vital interests.”