Carrier Strike Group Deployment a Response to ‘Credible Threat’ by Iran, Pentagon Chief Says

The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln transits the Strait of Gibraltar, entering the Mediterranean Sea on April 13, 2019. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Clint Davis/ Released

The Trump administration’s deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East is a response to a “credible threat” by Iran, said acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan.

He wrote on Twitter on May 6 that he approved the deployment on May 5, calling it “a prudent repositioning of assets in response to indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces.”