US dispatches aircraft carrier to Middle East over unspecified Iran threats

National security adviser John Bolton said the move was in response to ‘a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings’

A defence official speaking on condition of anonymity said there had been ‘clear indications’ of a possible attack

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The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier during its visit to Palma Bay in the Balearic Islands, Spain on April 16. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:42pm, 6 May 2019Updated: 2:37am, 7 May 2019

The United States is dispatching an aircraft carrier and other military resources to the Middle East following “clear indications” that Iran and its proxy forces were preparing to possibly attack US forces in the region, a defence official said.

At the White House, national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday night that the US is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region, an area that includes the Middle East.

In a statement, he said the move was in response to “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings”, but did not provide more details.

US forces at sea and on land were thought to be the potential targets, and the Pentagon approved the deployments in response to those indications, according to the defence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a lack of authorisation to speak publicly.

Aircraft fly in formation above the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in a photo made available in 2012. Photo: EPA

The USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of ships and combat aircraft have been operating in the Mediterranean Sea recently.