The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) sails in the Indian Ocean near Indonesia, February 3, 2005.. (photo credit: TIMOTHY SMITH/US NAVY/REUTERS)
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United States Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan stated at a Pentagon briefing Tuesday that the recently increased presence of American forces in the surrounding areas of Iran “put on hold the potential for attacks on Americans.”
Tensions have risen between the two countries in recent weeks, as the White House officially announced its intention to end sanctions waivers on eight countries that are still trading oil with Iran late last month, increasing the United States’ “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic.
Threats have been heard from both sides and the military presence of the United States in the Gulf Sea has risen significantly in recent weeks in response to warnings about potential attacks on US interests and positions in the Middle East by Iranian forces.
“That doesn’t mean that the threats that we’ve previously identified have gone away,” Shanahan added. “Our prudent response, I think, has given the Iranians time to recalculate. I think our response was a measure of our will and our resolve that we will protect our people and our interests in the region.”
On May 12, four oil tankers were sabotaged in the Gulf of Oman. While an anonymous US official hinted that Iran or its allies might be to blame. As of Wednesday, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham said that top administration officials told senators in a briefing the recent attacks on shipping and a pipeline in the Middle East was directed by the Iranian government and the ayatollah.
The day after the oil tanker attack, the Iranian-backed Houthis used drones to attack Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. This was a clear attack on a US ally by an Iranian-backed group. But the US did not respond. Instead, Saudi Arabia called together Arab leaders, but it, too, has yet to respond.
On May 19, a rocket was fired near the US Embassy in Baghdad. Once again the US did not respond, however, last Sunday, United States President Donald Trump tweeted, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.”
John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, announced earlier this month the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group in the Gulf region over “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings.”
The Lincoln Carrier Strike Group then passed through the Suez Canal, according to the US Central Command. Alongside the carrier are three destroyers: the USS Bainbridge, USS Mason and USS Nitze, as well as the guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf and a Spanish frigate, the ESPS Mendez Nunez.
In addition, B-52s from the 20th Bomb Squadron have landed in Qatar and elsewhere in “southwest Asia” – possibly the United Arab Emirates. And on May 10, the Pentagon announced it would be returning a Patriot missile battery to the wider Mideast, as well as sending the USS Arlington, an amphibious warship carrying marines, to join the Lincoln.
All these moves are a response to a possible threat to US forces in the region by Iran, according to the White House, which did not specify what that threat is. Iran dismissed the claim as nonsense, but Bolton warned the Islamic republic that any attack on American interests or allies would face “unrelenting force.”
The US-Iran escalation has put into question the future of the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with Germany and the UN Security Council’s five permanent members: US, UK, France, Russia and China. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Iran announced last week that it had suspended two commitments under the nuclear accord, and threatened to step up uranium enrichment if it was not shielded from the effects of the sanctions within 60 days.
“I think our steps were very prudent and we’ve put on hold the potential for attacks on Americans and that is what is extremely important,” Shanahan said, “I’d say we’re in a period where the threat remains high and our job is to make sure that there is no miscalculation by the Iranians.”
Jerusalem Post Staff, Reuters, Seth J. Frantzman contributed to this report.
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