Amid Tensions With Iran, U.S. Carriers Arrive in Gulf
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An American aircraft carrier battle group led by the USS John C. Stennis arrived in the Persian Gulf region as part of a buildup of forces amid heightened tension with Iran.
The nuclear-powered Stennis, sent by President Bush last month, arrived in the region February 15 to join the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as the second aircraft carrier battle group in the region, the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet said yesterday in a statement sent by e-mail. The fleet’s area of operations includes the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, to the east of the Arabian Peninsula.
The deployment of additional naval forces “is here to help foster stability and security in the region,” the commander of the naval force, Rear Admiral Kevin Quinn, said in the statement.
The U.S. and Iran are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff. The Bush administration, along with European allies and the U.N. Security Council are threatening sanctions unless Iran gives up trying to enrich uranium, which can be used in building a nuclear weapon. Last week, Mr. Bush said the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is supplying explosives to militants in neighboring Iraq who are attacking American troops.
The British Broadcasting Corp., citing unidentified diplomatic officials, reported yesterday that America has contingency plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites and military infrastructure if the Islamic Republic is confirmed to be developing a nuclear weapon or is linked to a major attack on America’s forces in Iraq.
“Certainly another carrier gives the U.S. the ability to act if they are provoked by Iran,” Mustafa Alani, the director of national security at the Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based Gulf Research Center, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
White House Press Secretary TonySnow said in Washington that any speculation America is looking for a military confrontation with Iran is “unwarranted.” The Bush administration has a “clear commitment to pursue a diplomatic course” with the Islamic Republic, he said.
Iran faces a U.N. deadline today to suspend production of nuclear fuel.
