Pentagon sending carrier battle group, bombers to Persian Gulf after indications Iran planned attack on U.S. forces

By Jon Dougherty

The White House instructed the Pentagon to dispatch an aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf after U.S. intelligence agencies caught wind of a potential ploy by Iran to attack American forces in the region,Â ABC News reported Sunday.

The rising tension between the U.S. and Iran comes as Iran-linked and financed groups in Gaza opened fire on Israel with a 700-rocket barrage on Saturday and Sunday, leaving at least three Israelis dead and several wounded.

The dispatch of the USS Abraham Lincoln battle group and an accompanying bomber task force were being deployed in response to unspecified “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” the Pentagon said — which is code for intelligence indicators.

The news network noted further:

A statement fromÂ National Security Adviser John BoltonÂ said the deployments were intended “to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.”

“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces,” the statement continued.

One U.S. official reportedly toldÂ ABC News the battle group and bomber deployments came in response to “clear indications” that Iran and its proxies were preparing for possible attack against U.S. forces in the region. The decision to send additional American military assets was made on Sunday at the White House, the network reported.

“The movement of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the region was expedited, and it was ordered there effective immediately,” said the official.

At present, the Abraham Lincoln battle group is currently sailing in the Mediterranean after leaving Norfolk, Virginia, on April 1. ABC NewsÂ reports that the U.S.Â Navy does not publicize destinations for its carrier deployments anymore, but it’s likely that the carrier would transit through the Middle East toward its new home port of San Diego following its current deployment.

“It is absolutely the case that we have seen escalatory actions from the Iranians, and it is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters traveling with him to Europe.



