Washington has confirmed that a “carrier strike group and a bomber task force” to the region in order to send a clear message to the state. US National Security Advisor, John Bolton warned that any threat will be met with “unrelenting force”. With relations between the two countries remaining tense Mr Bolton said the decision was “in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications”.
In a statement the top Trump aide said: “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 United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region 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 latest move comes in a series of other decisions made by the US to economically and politically isolate Iran.
Although the US has sent a strike force to the region, an official spokesman revealed that they were not expecting an imminent attack.
Tensions soared even higher last month after Trump designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group.
Following the decision, Trump said: “This decision recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.
“The Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.”
More to follow…