US aircraft carrier arrives in Middle East as Iran tensions remain high

WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships have arrived in the Middle East, bringing a renewed potential that President Donald Trump could opt to order airstrikes on Iran over its crackdown on protesters. The carrier, along with three destroyers, “is currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability,” U.S. Central Command said Monday on social media. The strike group was in the Indian Ocean, Central Command said, and not in the Arabian Sea, which borders Iran. It will bring thousands of additional service members to the region, which has not had a U.S. aircraft carrier since the USS Gerald R. Ford was ordered in October to sail to the Caribbean as part of a pressure campaign on then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump told reporters last week that the ships were sent to the region “just in case.” “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” he said. Trump earlier had threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or kill

Read Full Article