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Reuters Hugh Gentry
American aircraft carrier “Nimitz” (file photo)
The Pentagon announced Sunday that the aircraft carrier “Nimitz” would remain in the Gulf due to “recent threats” from Iran, after reports indicated that it would return to its base in the United States.
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Nimitz has been patrolling the Gulf waters since late November, but US media said last week that Christopher Miller, acting defense secretary, had ordered the carrier to return to its base.
The “New York Times” newspaper quoted US officials as saying that this step is a “de-escalation” signal directed at Tehran to avoid a confrontation in the last days of outgoing President Donald Trump in office.
On Sunday, however, Miller issued a counter-statement saying that “given recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials, the aircraft carrier Nimitz was ordered to halt its routine deployment.”
“The USS Nimitz will now remain in position in the United States Central Command area of operations. No one should question the determination of the United States of America,” he added.
This statement comes a year after the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy chief of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, in an American airstrike near the Baghdad airport. .
Source: AFP
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