U.S sends aircraft carrier to Middle East

The United States deployed an aircraft carrier and a bomber task force to the Middle East to respond to threats from Iran, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday. The military sent the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region in response to “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” Bolton said, adding, “The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime. But we are fully prepared to respond to any attack.”

The Trump administration designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group in April and announced an end to sanction exemptions for countries that are still purchasing Iranian oil. President Donald Trump paved the way to reimpose stiff sanctions on Iran in May 2018 by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal with world powers.

In April, Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway connecting the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil from the Middle East is transported.