The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group boasts five squadrons of fighter jets and at least three missile destroyers Credit: AP
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has crossed into the area of responsibility of the U.S. military’s Central Command, the Middle East region that includes Iran, CENTCOM confirmed on Monday.
The American warships’ movement toward Iran, which President Trump has referred to as an “armada,” came after the commander of Islamic Republic’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that his forces had their “finger on the trigger.”
CENTCOM confirmed with a social media post that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and the other vessels in its strike group were sailing in the Indian Ocean after being deployed to the Middle East — the first public acknowledgment from the Department of Defense that the carrier group had reached Central Command’s vast area of responsibility. It said the deployment was “to promote regional security and stability.”
A U.S. official told CBS News earlier on Monday that the strike group had crossed into the CENTCOM AOR.
The strike group is comprised of the Lincoln and three guided missile destroyers: the USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr., the USS Spruance and the USS Michael Murphy. On board the Lincoln are squadrons of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, F-35C fighter jets and MH-60R/S helicopters.
As of Monday morning Eastern time, the U.S. official told CBS News the group had not necessarily arrived “on station,” meaning it had not reached its intended ultimate position.
President Trump said Thursday that the U.S. had a “massive fleet” heading toward Iran, “just in case” he wants to take action, although he added, “maybe we won’t have to use it.”
Mr. Trump repeatedly warned Iranian leaders against the killing of peaceful demonstrators — who started protesting in late December in the largest challenge to the country’s ruling regime in years — and then against the mass execution of people detained during the unrest.
Over the weekend, Nournews, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on its Telegram channel that Gen. Mohammad Pakpour had warned the U.S. and Israel, “to avoid any miscalculation.”
IRAN’S supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reportedly hiding in an underground bunker – out of fear he could be wiped out by US airstrikes.
The 86-year-old autocrat is said to have fled with his family to a heavily fortified shelter linked by a maze of tunnels under Tehran as an American armada powers toward the Persian Gulf.
CBS
