WASHINGTON – The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has entered Middle Eastern waters, a US official confirmed to Al-Monitor.
The carrier, which is carrying F/A-18 squadrons and an F-35 squadron, and is accompanied by multiple destroyers, was redirected to the region earlier this month as President Donald Trump weighs options with top White House advisers to strike Iran.
The carrier’s presence reinforces at least three F-15 squadrons already based in the region, along with additional US air defense batteries sent to the region in recent weeks. Additional US Navy guided-missile destroyers have been positioned in the Gulf and one in the Red Sea in recent weeks.
Trump repeatedly threatened earlier this month to strike Iran’s government for its violent repression of mass anti-government protests. The president has appeared to have vacillated about conviction to authorize the strikes. “Maybe we won’t have to use it, but we’ll see,” he said of the carrier strike group as it headed towards Iran last week.
US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the Pentagon’s top commander for the region, met with top Israeli military officials during a visit over the weekend, including what an Israeli army spokesperson described as a “lengthy personal meeting” with IDF chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
The IDF’s statement on the meetings did not mention Iran. US CENTCOM has not released a statement on Cooper’s visit to Israel by publication time.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
