TEHRAN, Mar 7 : The US is expected to deploy a third aircraft carrier to West Asia as Iran has upped the ante of its retaliatory strikes, prompting fresh threats from the IRGC of making good on using its hold over the Strait of Hormuz to choke and target all enemy vessels.
This comes as the USS George H.W. Bush completed its pre-deployment training on Thursday, according to the US Navy, reports Fox News.
As per the US Naval Institute, the carrier, its escort warships and air wing are expected to deploy soon and head towards the eastern Mediterranean.
According to the media agency, the carrier and its accompanying strike group wrapped up the composite unit training exercise required prior to a carrier’s certification for operational deployment.
The carrier would join the USS Gerald R. Ford, currently the world’s largest aircraft carrier, which recently transited the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea, according to images released by the American military.
Meanwhile, the USS Abraham Lincoln remains stationed in the Arabian Sea, where it has been supporting operations amid the increasingly heightened tensions with the Islamic Republic.
Amid the US’ naval deployment, Iran’s powerful theocratic guard and paramilitary unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, has warned they are waiting for US forces to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, intending to make good on their earlier threats of using their hold on the narrow water stretch to harass enemy vessels, as all traffic on the vital strategic waterway remains strangled as the war between the three countries rages on.
“We are waiting for their presence,” said Guards spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini, after the US Energy Secretary announced that its Navy was preparing to escort ships through the Strait “as soon as it’s reasonable to do it.”
“We recommend that before making any decision, the Americans remember the fire of the American supertanker Bridgeton in 1987 and the oil tankers that were recently targeted,” Naini was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.
(UNI)
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