WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 — U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that an additional “armada” of U.S. military vessels is sailing towards Iran, expressing hope that Iran will agree to a deal.
“There’s another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now, so we’ll see,” Trump said at a rally in the midwestern U.S. state of Iowa.
“I hope they make a deal,” Trump added, “They should have made a deal the first time they’d have a country.” One day earlier, the U.S. Central Command said the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran.
Last week, USS George H.W. Bush departed Virginia for Europe, amid speculation that the supercarrier could be deployed to the Mediterranean and transit the Suez Canal if tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to rise, Forbes reported.
The Pentagon also ordered U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles that were forward-deployed at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in Britain to American air bases in Jordan, Forbes added.
On Monday, the U.S. Air Forces Central said in a statement that “Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) will be conducting a multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.”
The exercise will allow the U.S. military “to validate procedures for rapid movement of personnel and aircraft; dispersed operations at contingency locations; logistics sustainment with a minimal footprint; and integrated, multi-national command and control over a large area of operations,” said the statement.
Cameron Chell, a leading military drone expert, told Fox News on Sunday that Iran’s drone swarms would pose a credible and serious threat to U.S. naval assets, including the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group.
So far, there is no indication that the White House has made any decision on Iran. Trump has repeatedly said he is considering several options, including striking Iran, but also noted that Tehran “wants to talk,” suggesting that Washington may enter into discussions with Tehran, CNN reported. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
