US orders aircraft carrier to remain in Middle East amid Iranian threats

Following the renewed escalation of tensions and soaring fears of military conflict between the United States and Iran over General Soleimani's assassination, Washington on January 3 instructed its military aircraft carrier to remain stationed in the middle east. As the threat of the Iranian retaliation looms, US acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller reversed the earlier decision to pull out USS Nimitz from middle eastern waters, stating that the carrier will now remain on station in the US Central Command area of operations.

In a brief official statement issued by the US defense ministry, Miller ordered the US aircraft carrier to halt its routine redeployment immediately, adding that no nation must doubt the US’ resolve as he further pushed for USS Nimitz’s deployment in the Persian Gulf to send a 'clear message' to Tehran, flaring tensions between the two nations. 

US sources close to CNN revealed that Iran, amid the heightened tension, ramped up its military readiness as it moved the short-range ballistic missiles into Iraq and deployed Iranian maritime forces in the Gulf, to strike at the US military bases as the two countries edged towards an armed conflict. Iran had also warned the US that the new year might turn into ‘mourning for Americans’, as it brought the American military’s ‘adventurism’ in the Gulf and the Oman waters to the United Nations Security Council’s notice. On the occasion of the death anniversary of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed a "severe revenge” ratcheting up potential conflict threats against US troops and diplomats in the Persian Gulf. 

[USS Nimitz. Credit: US Navy]

[Credit: US Navy]

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The military advisers on the US side, according to several reports, suggested that Pentagon must bring military carrier Nimitz to its homeport of Bremerton, Wash., from the Middle East and Africa. But the US acting defense secretary ordered just the redeployment as a de-escalation signal, as American intelligence reports suggested that Iran was preparing to strike the US military to avenge the US killing of the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Miller refused to out station Nimitz from the Middle East. Both Iran and the US have maintained their military posturing following the January 3 anniversary of the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani.  

Iran calls US killing 'unforgivable crime'

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused US President Donald Trump of ‘creating pretext of war’ in a state press address, berating his policy of ‘maximum pressure’ against Iran. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a press address that President Donald Trump had committed an "unforgivable crime” and that Iran had a ‘definite plan’ for revenge, according to Iran's semi-official Fars news agency. Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander of Iran's army as saying that Iran was ready with a sword and a sledgehammer to strike against assassinators of IRGC’s top commander.

The US, meanwhile, flew two B-52 Stratofortress bombers over the Persian Gulf this week, avoiding Iranian airspace in a 36-hour airforce mission from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, to reinstate the US military's commitment to regional security,  according to a US Central Command release. 

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