{"id":193790,"date":"2019-08-25T08:50:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-25T08:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=193790"},"modified":"2019-08-29T05:57:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T05:57:50","slug":"warship-us-sent-to-deter-iran-steers-clear-of-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=193790","title":{"rendered":"Warship US sent to \u2018deter\u2019 Iran \u2018steers clear\u2019 of Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction \u2013 Aug 25, 2019<\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>

The USS Abraham Lincoln is currently leading a carrier battle group sailing the Arabian Sea. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Although the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the Persian Gulf in a show of force, it has been keeping a safe distance from Iran\u2019s territorial waters.<\/h5>\n
Until quite recently a carrier strike group was seen as the ultimate projection of U.S. military power. However, recent advances in missile technology have cast doubt on that assumption.<\/h5>\n
That\u2019s why the U.S. aircraft carrier strike group has been keeping its distance from Iran\u2019s territorial waters. Because if it gets too close this supposed symbol of U.S. military power will become a sitting duck; where it will become a prize target for Iran\u2019s growing arsenal of missiles.<\/h5>\n
Sailing to within 200kms of the Iranian coast and its aircraft will also be vulnerable to strikes from Iran\u2019s new Bavar 373 anti-aircraft missile, which has an effective range of 200kms.<\/h5>\n
While the American ships will be vulnerable to strikes from Iran\u2019s submarine launched anti-ship cruise missiles beyond 200kms.<\/h5>\n
The Persian Gulf is turning into a potential flash point, as more ships look set to join a growing international flotilla in the region. Ostensibly to police the waters around Iran, Australian and Israeli naval vessels may soon join the flotilla, which currently involves ships from the U.S. and Britain. Ed.<\/h5>\n

Warship US sent to \u2018deter\u2019 Iran \u2018steers clear\u2019 of Iran<\/h2>\n

Press TV \u2013 Aug 25, 2019<\/h3>\n

A large aircraft carrier strike force that the United States sent to the Middle East in May on an accelerated schedule to \u201cdeter\u201d Iran has been \u201csteering clear\u201d of the country since arrival, staying as far away as the Arabian Sea for fear of Iranian military strikes in case of a potential conflict.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The dispatch earlier this year of the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East ahead of schedule was meant by the US \u201cto send a clear and unmistakable message\u201d to Iran. And even as Iranian military officials knew the deployment was not extraordinary \u2014 the US\u2019s Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain \u2014 it ratcheted up tensions significantly at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tensions first rose between Iran and the US in May 2018, when US President Donald Trump pulled America out of a multilateral deal with Iran and started attempting to drive Iran\u2019s oil sales presumably to zero.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 5, 2019, Trump\u2019s National Security Adviser and known Iran hawk John Bolton said in a statement that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force were being sent to the Middle East \u201cto send a clear and unmistakable message\u201d to Iran. A US official told Reuters at the time that the forces \u201chave been ordered to the region as a deterrence\u201d against Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the warship has never ventured anywhere near Iranian waters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Straits of Hormuz. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

The New York Times said in an article on Friday that, since arriving in the region, the USS Abraham Lincoln naval group has avoided both the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, \u201cthe crucial oil-tanker highways it is supposed to protect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe 5,600 men and women aboard this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier do not venture near Iranian waters,\u201d it said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[T]he Lincoln remains in the North Arabian Sea, and at times more than 600 nautical miles from the Strait of Hormuz. Often, the Lincoln is off the coast of Oman, not far from Muscat,\u201d the article said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commanders on board the warship and interviewed by the Times said they was staying far from Iran to avoid an \u201cescalation.\u201d However, a fear of Iranian reprisal in case of a potential confrontation seemed to be the real preoccupation of the American forces on the USS Abraham Lincoln.<\/span><\/p>\n

To avoid Iranian military forces, the American warship is even prepared to go through much worse weather and sea conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrolling the North Arabian Sea, with its huge waves and fierce undertow, fighter pilots on a recent Saturday battled wind gusts to catch the wire as they landed on the pitching carrier. Unlike the far calmer Persian Gulf, the North Arabian Sea at this time of the year is ferocious.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The real thing\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The forces on the USS Abraham Lincoln were cited as saying with an air of confidence that they could still potentially engage in offensive attacks against Iran from where they were positioned. But, when actual combat was reportedly imminent in one instance, they were taken over by fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Commander of the Aerospace Division of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Amir Ali Hajizadeh looks at debris from a downed US drone in Tehran on June 21, 2019. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

On June 21, Trump reportedly ordered airstrikes on Iranian targets in reaction to the downing by Iran of an intruding American spy drone<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Shortly later, however, the US president reversed course.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allegedly preparing to conduct the airstrikes, the forces on board the USS Abraham Lincoln were struck by anxiety.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe ship was prepared to launch strikes on Iranian targets on the ground. Enlisted sailors and officers had rehearsed and drilled countless times, but suddenly this was the real thing,\u201d the Times said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could feel the stress in the younger sailors,\u201d said Captain William Reed, a fighter pilot who commands the ship\u2019s air wing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Relief? Yeah!\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No less a person than the commander of the carrier strike group, a rear admiral, was \u201crelieved\u201d to learn of the order to stand down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll the systems were on, all the lights were green, we were waiting for the order,\u201d Rear Adm. Michael E. Boyle said. \u201cAnd the order didn\u2019t come.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRelief? Yeah! Whatever caused us not to have to push the button, we\u2019re happy,\u201d he told the Times.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Bolton had meant the dispatch to be a message \u201cto Iran to steer clear of American interests in the region[,]… it is the Abraham Lincoln that has steered clear of Iran,\u201d the Times said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If it gets too close to Iran\u2019s territorial waters this symbol of U.S. military power could become a sitting duck <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Iran"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193790"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193793,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193790\/revisions\/193793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=193790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=193790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}