Pentagon reverses resolution inside days, citing ‘current threats issued by Iranian leaders in opposition to President Trump and different US authorities officers’.
The USA has reversed a choice to deliver an plane service dwelling from the Gulf, with the Pentagon saying that because of “current threats” by Iran, the USS Nimitz would keep in place.
The Nimitz has been patrolling Gulf waters since late November. In a press release on December 31, performing US Protection Secretary Christopher C Miller ordered the vessel to “transit instantly dwelling to finish an almost 10-month deployment”.
The New York Occasions newspaper, quoting US officers, stated the transfer was a part of a “de-escalatory” sign to Tehran to keep away from a battle throughout President Donald Trump’s final days in workplace.
Nonetheless, Miller issued a brand new assertion altering course on Sunday.
“Because of the current threats issued by Iranian leaders in opposition to President Trump and different US authorities officers, I’ve ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment,” stated the assertion.
“The USS Nimitz will now stay on station within the US Central Command space of operations. Nobody ought to doubt the resolve of the USA of America.”
Whereas he didn’t elaborate on the threats concerned, the assertion got here on the primary anniversary of a US drone raid in Baghdad that killed Iran’s revered commander Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
On Sunday, hundreds of Iraqi mourners chanted “revenge” and “no to America” as they marched in capital Baghdad and different cities.
The anniversary of the Baghdad drone assault was additionally marked in current days throughout Iran and by supporters in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere.
Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark nuclear cope with Iran and world powers in 2018 and launched a “most strain” marketing campaign in opposition to Tehran, reimposing and reinforcing crippling sanctions.
The 2 nations have twice come to the brink of warfare since June 2019, particularly following the killing of Soleimani.
Days after the Soleimani assassination, Iran launched a volley of missiles at Iraqi bases housing US and different coalition troops, with Trump refraining from any additional navy response.