US aircraft carrier stays in Gulf after Pentagon claims Iranian ‘threats’ against Trump – By Agence-France Presse (The Guardian) / January 4 2021
Pentagon reverses decision to pull USS Nimitz out of Persian Gulf after ‘recent threats issued by Iranian leaders’
The United States has reversed a decision to bring an aircraft carrier home from the Persian Gulf, with the Pentagon saying that due to “recent threats” by Iran the USS Nimitz would stay in position.
The Nimitz has been patrolling Gulf waters since late November. In a statement issued on 31 December the acting US defence secretary, Christopher C Miller, had ordered the vessel to “transit directly home to complete a nearly 10-month deployment”.
The New York Times, quoting US officials, said this move was part of a “de-escalatory” signal to Tehran to avoid a conflict in President Donald Trump’s last days in office.
However, Miller issued a new statement on Sunday changing course. “Due to the recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other US government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment,” he said.
