US deploys aircraft carrier to Persian Gulf due to 'troubling indicators'

(Patria) – US National Security Advisor John Bolton said that an attack by Iran on the US or its allies would be met with 'unrelenting force', agencies report.

The US is sending the aircraft carrier 'Abraham Lincoln' and an air combat unit to the Middle East in response to 'several troubling and escalating indicators and warnings' from Iran, Bolton explained.

Britain's Guardian writes that it is unclear what Bolton's statement refers to, as there have been no recent incidents in the Persian Gulf, where US and Iranian navies are routinely stationed at close distance. The carrier 'Abraham Lincoln' had already been deployed to the Gulf a month before Bolton's statement.

Bolton's statement, which will likely raise tensions in the region, comes a few days after the Iranian government expressed concern that Bolton is trying to drag the Trump administration into a new war, the Guardian writes.

'The US does not seek war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Iranian forces,' says a statement signed by John Bolton.

Rotations of aircraft carriers and bomber fleets are common, but it is a rarity for them to be announced by the National Security Advisor instead of the Pentagon.

The Guardian writes that Bolton advocates for a tougher US stance toward North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran. Before taking his position in the White House, Bolton held the view that bombing Iran was the only way to stop the development of its nuclear program.

Recall that in May of last year, the Trump administration withdrew from the multilateral agreement with Iran, in which Iran accepted strict limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of sanctions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran is fulfilling its obligations under the 2015 agreement.

During a visit to New York last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CBS that Iran does not believe President Trump wants a confrontation. 'However, we know there are people who want it and are working on it,' he stated.

While Bolton did not reveal details of the 'troubling and escalating indicators and warnings' from Iran, Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who advocates for a tougher approach to Iran, shared the view that rockets fired by Hamas at Israel 'could be orchestrated by Iran as part of a campaign against the US and its regional allies,' the Guardian reports.