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US sends carrier strike group to Central Command region to send 'message' to Iran – Bolton US deploys aircraft carrier & bombers to Middle East in ‘message’ to Iran – Bolton
(about 7 hours later)
The US is deploying a carrier strike group and bomber command force to the Middle East to send a "message" to Tehran, that any attack on US interests will be met by "unrelenting force," national security adviser John Bolton said. The US is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East amid mounting animosity and a heated war of words between Washington and Tehran.
"The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, [by] the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or regular Iranian forces," Bolton said in a statement. The USS ‘Abraham Lincoln’ Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force will soon arrive in “the US Central Command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime,” according to a statement by US National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Washington announced sanctions against Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr and a ban on exports of heavy water and any further uranium enrichment on Friday.  Bolton, who once notoriously called for Iran’s nuclear program to be stopped by bombing the country, asserted this time that the US “is not seeking war with the Iranian regime.” However, it is “fully prepared to respond to any attack” by Tehran’s “proxy” – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – or regular Iranian forces.
In April the Trump administration said it would not renew exemptions granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, in line with its plan to bring the Islamic Republic’s crude exports to zero. The hawkish national security adviser warned that any attack on the interests of the US or its allies “will be met with unrelenting force.” It is unclear how realistic the threat is of such an attack. A US official earlier told Reuters that the Pentagon was not expecting any imminent assault on US forces.
Also last month, Washington formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization in April. Tehran responded by putting US Central Command on its terrorist list. Tehran has recently signaled unwillingness to escalate tensions. “We have been very clear that we have no interest in escalation,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Al Jazeera. He added, however, that Iran “won’t permit the US to threaten the Persian Gulf.”
The move was criticized by European countries, who said that Tehran is adhering to the JCPoA nuclear agreement that Washington ditched last year.  The American deployment comes on the heels of fresh sanctions imposed against Iran’s nuclear power plant at Bushehr, and a ban on exports of heavy water and any further uranium enrichment. These restrictions came in addition to other forms of pressure that the Trump administration is piling on Iran.
Tehran has been responding to every US action with statements full of resilience and blasting Washington's "bullying." Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that if fighting breaks out between Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and US CENTCOM forces in the Persian gulf, it is Washington who would be held responsible. Back in April, the administration said it would not renew exemptions granted last year to buyers of Iranian oil, in line with its plan to reduce the Islamic Republic’s crude exports to zero.
On Sunday Bolton said the decision to send USS Abraham Lincoln was "in response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings." Also last month, Washington formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Tehran responded by putting US Central Command on its terrorist list. Iran has responded to every US action with statements full of resilience, blasting Washington’s “bullying.”
The statement was met with concerns that hawkish Bolton wants in fact a war with Iran, while some suggested that he's trying to distract attention from the failure of the coup in Venezuela. The country’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that if fighting breaks out between Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and US CENTCOM forces in the Persian Gulf, it is Washington who would be held responsible.
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