Thedecision to send an aircraft carrier and a group of Air Force bombers to theMiddle East was based in part on intelligence indications that Iran had movedshort-range ballistic missiles by boat in waters off its shores, an Americanofficial said.
Themovement, first reported by CNN, was among a range of recent indications thatIran might be considering or preparing to attack US forces in the region, saidthe official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitiveintelligence.
Theofficial said on Tuesday that it was not clear whether the boats with missilesrepresented a new military capability that could be used against US forces orwere only being moved to shore locations.
Whenthe White House announced Sunday that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strikegroup and a bomber task force were being deployed to the Middle East, JohnBolton, the national security adviser to President Donald Trump, cited”troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” but did notexplain what they were.
Boltonsaid the movement of additional military firepower to the Middle East was meantto send a “clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that anyattack on the United States interests or on those of our allies will be metwith unrelenting force.”
PatrickShanahan, the acting secretary of defense, told reporters at the Pentagon onTuesday that he had approved the expedited movement of the Lincoln strike groupand the deployment of a bomber group based on “credible reporting” onIran.
“Whatyou see is us getting in the right posture for that dynamic environment”in Iraq and elsewhere in the region, Shanahan said. The US has about 5,200 troopsin Iraq.