WASHINGTON — The White House announced on Sunday that the United States was sending an aircraft carrier strike group and Air Force bombers to the Middle East because of “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” related to Iran. The deployment was intended “to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force,” said John R. Bolton, the national security adviser, in a statement released Sunday night. [Sign up for the weekly At War newsletter to receive stories about duty, conflict and consequence.] The announcement did not give any further information on the reasons for the commitment of military forces. An American military official said on Sunday night that whatever threat Mr. Bolton cited had most likely emerged in the previous 24 to 48 hours because as of late Friday, military analysts were not tracking any new, imminent or clearly defined Iranian or Iranian-backed threats against Americans in Iraq or the region. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when asked by reporters about Mr. Bolton’s statement on a flight to Finland, said, “It’s something we’ve been working on for a little while.”<doc-sep>US Sending B-52 Bombers to Middle East to Confront Iran Threats The U.S. military is adding B-52 bombers to the forces being sent to the Middle East to counter Iranian threats to U.S. forces on the ground and at sea, the military said on May 7. Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that the bomber task force would consist of B-52 bombers—long-range warplanes that are capable of carrying 70,000 pounds of bombs. Four B-52s would be deployed, though that number could change, U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters. The announcement comes two days after White House national security adviser John Bolton said that the United States was deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East. Bolton said the intention was “to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.” “The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” he said. Central Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, requested additional forces following “recent and clear indications” that Iranian and proxy forces were making preparations to possibly attack U.S. forces in the region, Urban said, according to Reuters. ‘Recent and Clear’ Threats From Iran “U.S. Central Command continues to track a number of credible threat streams emanating from the regime in Iran throughout the CENTCOM area of responsibility,” Urban said in a statement. He said the credibility of those threats was based on sources and methods through which the information was obtained, something the U.S. military wasn’t able to discuss. One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that there were indications that Iran appeared to be moving short-range ballistic missiles on boats in the Middle East. The military has said the threat to U.S. forces was on land and at sea, but declined to provide further details. Strike Group The military also confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group had already been scheduled to be deployed to the Persian Gulf region in the Middle East, but that its movement was “expedited” due to heightened tension with Iran. According to USA Today, the Abraham Lincoln has a wing of warplanes and 3,000 sailors aboard and is accompanied by the USS Leyte Gulf, a guided-missile cruiser, and four destroyers: the USS Bainbridge, Gonzalez, Mason, and Nitze. The United States has regularly maintained a bomber presence in the region, and B-1 bombers were there as recently as last month. The B-52 is a long-range, nuclear-capable bomber. ‘Escalatory Action’ U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told media on May 6 that “it is absolutely the case that we’ve seen escalatory action from the Iranians,” but he also said he couldn’t be more specific. “I don’t want to talk about what underlays it, but make no mistake. We have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand how we will respond to actions that they may take,” he said. On May 7, Pompeo canceled a long-planned visit with Germany and instead made an unannounced trip to Baghdad, and met with Iraqi leaders. Pompeo said the purpose of the meeting also was to let Iraqi officials know more about “the increased threat stream that we had seen” from Iran, so they could effectively protect U.S. forces. Pressure Up President Donald Trump has been increasing pressure on Iran’s leaders, especially since he quit the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 and gradually reimposed sanctions on the country in an effort to force the Islamic regime to change a plethora of activities the administration finds unacceptable. The administration demands that Iran halts not only its nuclear technology development, which the Obama administration’s nuclear deal attempted to delay, but also its ballistic missile program, support for terrorists and militias in the region, and other destabilizing activities. In April, Trump announced he would designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization—the first time the United States has marked a branch of a foreign country’s military as such. Trump also announced in April that the government won’t renew waivers from the sanctions for countries importing Iranian oil in an effort to completely shut down Iranian oil exports, which are a lifeline of the regime. Threats Iran says its missile program is only defensive, but has repeatedly threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if the United States tries to throttle Iranian oil exports. The strait is a major choke point between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which about a fifth of the world’s oil shipments passes. In November 2018, an IRGC commander threatened that U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, and U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf were within range of Iranian missiles. In July 2018, Saudi state oil company Aramco stated that two of its tankers had been attacked by Yemen-based Houthi militia, who are backed by Iran and suppressed by the Saudi military. Pompeo made clear that the United States will hold “Iranian leadership directly accountable” for “attacks on American interests” by Iranian proxies, be it the Houthis, a Shia militia group, or the Lebanese Hezbollah. Reuters, and Epoch Times staff member Petr Svab, contributed to this report.<doc-sep>He did not explain what he meant by "escalatory actions", however he added: "We have good reason to want to communicate clearly about how the Iranians should understand how we will respond to actions they may take."<doc-sep>
Four B-52 Stratofortress bombers are being sent to the Mideast to support the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in moves aimed at countering threats from Iran, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday. The B-52s, from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, are deploying to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a hub for U.S. air operations in the region, CBS News reported. The U.S. has only occasionally been without a bomber presence in the Mideast since 9/11, but the last bombers that had been in the region -- B-1 Lancers from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas -- returned home in March, according to the Air Force. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a CENTCOM spokesman, said in a statement that "the Air Force is deploying B-52s to the U.S. Central Command" area of operations, adding, "We are not going to provide a specific timeline for that deployment." Related: CNO: Navy's Response to Iran Proves New Unpredictable Deployment Model Works On Sunday, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that a bomber task force and the Lincoln would be deployed to the Mideast to guard against renewed but unspecified threats from Iran about mounting attacks, possibly through proxies, against U.S. troops and interests in the region. The deployments would "send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States' interests, or on those of our allies, will be met with unrelenting force," he said in a statement. "The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces." The Lincoln had been in the eastern Mediterranean. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said Monday at the annual Sea-Air-Space exposition in Washington, D.C., that sending the carrier to the Gulf region had been planned "for some time now" as part of a routine deployment. However, at the direction of the White House, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the new commander of CENTCOM, requested that the deployment of the Lincoln to the Gulf be accelerated, The New York Times reported. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said via Twitter on Monday that he approved the request as a "prudent repositioning of assets in response to indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces." "This is the beauty of having a dynamic force," Richardson said on Twitter. "The U.S. Navy can easily maneuver to protect national interests around the globe." Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have heightened since President Donald Trump last year withdrew the U.S. from the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by the Obama administration, which was aimed at limiting Iran's development of nuclear weapons. The deal had been worked out by the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany, the so-called "P5 + 1." Other signatories remain in the JCPOA. Trump later imposed tougher sanctions on Iran intended to force political change in the regime. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is expected to make a speech Wednesday outlining Iran's intent to "diminish its commitments" to the JCPOA, according to Iran's state news agency IRNA. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.