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In light of recent threats from Iran, the Pentagon announced that the USS Nimitz will remain in the Gulf.
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The aircraft carrier “USS Nimitz”
The Pentagon announced Sunday that the USS Nimitz will remain in the Gulf due to “recent threats” from Iran, after reports indicated that it would “return to its base in the United States.”
Nimitz has been patrolling the Gulf waters since late November, but US media reported this week that Christopher Miller, the acting US secretary of defense, had ordered the carrier to return to its base.
The “New York Times” newspaper quoted US officials as saying 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.
Miller issued a counter-statement, however, stating that “given the recent threats by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials, I have directed the aircraft carrier Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment.”
“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 coincides with the anniversary of the assassination of the martyred Quds Force commander, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, in a US airstrike near the Baghdad airport. While Tehran still threatens to respond to the assassination, it says it is the departure of US forces from the region.
Thousands of Iraqis marched on Sunday on the first anniversary of the leaders’ martyrdom, chanting slogans such as “No, not America” and “Revenge.” In Iran, various events were held to commemorate the martyr Soleimani.
Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said: “The Americans felt that Hajj Qassem had lost his deterrent power in the region, especially after he suffered a series of defeats in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan.” , considering that the American president was the “main terrorist”.
Tehran accused the outgoing US president of seeking to create a “pretext” to launch a “war” before leaving the White House on January 20, following a term during which he launched a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Tehran. Before that, Trump accused Tehran of being behind a missile attack on the US embassy in Baghdad on December 20.
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