DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down.

Sunday night's statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier's strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” without elaborating.

“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,” Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the “counteractions” Tehran will take over America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts - with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement - of the planned speech.

“Partial and total reduction of some of Iran's commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step,” ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed.

A spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton's comments as “psychological warfare.”

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran's already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven't alleviated the pain.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran's government.

It's unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia.

Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes.

Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world.

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday.

It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments.

In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years.

Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP.

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria.

Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country's troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran.</s>Fears of conflict rose Monday as the United States vowed to send a message to Iran by deploying an aircraft carrier strike group, in a sharp escalation of President Donald Trump's pressure campaign.

John Bolton, Trump's national security advisor who advocated attacking Iran before taking his position, announced late Sunday that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would sail to unspecified waters in the vicinity of Iran.

The deployment is aimed at sending "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," Bolton said.

"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 USS Abraham Lincoln has previously been deployed to the Gulf, including during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was the scene of president George W. Bush's later notorious victory speech in front of a banner that read "Mission Accomplished."

The Pentagon had already announced with little fanfare last month that the USS Abraham Lincoln and the rest of its strike group had headed on a "regularly scheduled deployment" out of its base in Norfolk, Virginia.

But Bolton gave the deployment a new urgency as he said that it was in response to "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" by Iran.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters he could not elaborate on what those indications were, but said they were separate from a violent flare-up between Israel and Hamas, the Iranian-backed Islamist militant group that runs the Gaza Strip.

Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which advocates a hard line on Iran, said he had heard of a "spike" in intelligence in recent days about planned attacks.

He believed Iran had given the green-light to the missiles out of Gaza by Hamas as allied movement Islamic Jihad.

The strikes sought "to tie down Israeli forces and create a crisis to distract the US and Israel from IRGC plans elsewhere," he said, referring to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.

Other observers were much more skeptical, believing that Bolton had seized on a routine deployment as a way to pile pressure on Iran.

The statement came almost a year to the date after Trump pulled the United States out of a multinational accord under which Tehran drastically scaled back its sensitive nuclear work.

"I think this is manufactured by Bolton to try to justify the administration's very harsh policy toward Iran despite the fact that Iran has been complying with the nuclear deal," said Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council think tank.

"Given Bolton's record," she said, "I wouldn't put it past him to try to manufacture a crisis here."

UN inspectors say that Iran has been in compliance with the nuclear deal, which is still backed by European powers as well as Trump's Democratic rivals seeking to unseat him next year.

But Iranians have voiced frustration that they have not seen a promised economic boon, with Trump instead slapping sweeping sanctions on the country.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has hit even harder, moving to ban all countries from buying Iran's oil, its top export, and declaring the Revolutionary Guards to be a terrorist group -- the first such designation of a unit of a foreign government.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, considered a moderate inside the clerical regime, may announce "retaliatory measures" on Wednesday on the anniversary of the US pullout, the semi-official ISNA news agency said.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down. Sunday night’s statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier’s strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” without elaborating. “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,” Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the “counteractions” Tehran will take over America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts — with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement — of the planned speech. “Partial and total reduction of some of Iran’s commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step,” ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed. A spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton’s comments as “psychological warfare.” The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran’s already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven’t alleviated the pain.

It’s unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted. The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia. Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes. Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world. The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday. It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments. In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years. Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP. The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria. Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country’s troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down.

Sunday night's statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier's strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," without elaborating.

"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," Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the "counteractions" Tehran will take over America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts -- with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement -- of the planned speech.

"Partial and total reduction of some of Iran's commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step," ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed.

A spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton's comments as "psychological warfare."

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran's already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven't alleviated the pain.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran's government.

It's unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia.

Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes.

Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world.

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday.

It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments.

In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years.

Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP.

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria.

Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country's troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down.

Sunday night's statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier's strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," without elaborating.

"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," Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the "counteractions" Tehran will take over America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts — with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement — of the planned speech.

"Partial and total reduction of some of Iran's commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step," ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed.

A spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton's comments as "psychological warfare."

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran's already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven't alleviated the pain.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran's government.

It's unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia.

Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes.

Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world.

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday.

It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments.

In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years.

Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP.

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria.

Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country's troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighboring Iran.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw America from Tehran's nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down.

Sunday night's statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier's strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings," without elaborating.

"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," Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the "counteractions" Tehran will take over America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts — with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement — of the planned speech.

"Partial and total reduction of some of Iran's commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step," ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed.

A spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton's comments as "psychological warfare."

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran's already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven't alleviated the pain.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran's government.

It's unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia.

Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes.

Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world.

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday.

It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments.

In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years.

Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP.

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria.

Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country's troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighboring Iran.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the United States and Iran (all times local):

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration is intensifying pressure to "get Iran to behave like a normal nation."

Pompeo spoke to reporters Monday in Finland following the administration's decision to move an aircraft carrier group ahead of schedule to the Middle East from the Mediterranean in response to what it said were threats of a possible attack on U.S. or allied interests by Iran. The larger pressure campaign has included withdrawing from an Obama-era nuclear deal, reimposing sanctions and designating the Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

The secretary said the measures are intended to stop Iran from a range of activities that include sponsoring terrorist organizations that launch missile attacks on Israel or building missile systems in Yemen to assist rebels in that country's civil war.

"Our objective is to get the Islamic Republic of Iran to behave like a normal nation," he said. "When they do that, we will welcome them back."

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan says the accelerated deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier group and some bombers to the Middle East is "prudent repositioning" of assets in response to what he said were indications of a credible threat from Iran.

Shanahan says in a tweet Monday that the U.S. will hold Tehran accountable for any attacks on U.S. forces or interests. And he is calling on Iran to "cease all provocation."

The U.S. has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to move to the Middle East about two weeks ahead of schedule. The ships have been in the Mediterranean Sea and had planned to stop for a port visit in Croatia, but that has been canceled.

National security adviser John Bolton said Sunday night that the U.S. was deploying the ships and a bomber task force to the region, intending to send a message that "unrelenting force" will meet any attack on American forces or allies.

The U.S. is rushing an aircraft carrier and other military resources to the Middle East after seeing Iranian troops and proxy forces making preparations for attacks against U.S. forces and interests in the region, a defense official told The Associated Press.

At the White House, National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday night that the U.S. was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the U.S. 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.

The request would get the ships into the region two weeks earlier than initially planned, according to the defense official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly so spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The Abraham Lincoln and its strike group of ships and combat aircraft have been operating in the Mediterranean Sea recently. Bolton's reference to the Central Command area would mean the Lincoln is headed east to the Red Sea and perhaps then to the Arabian Sea or the Persian Gulf, which would take several days.</s>DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A sudden White House announcement that a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber wing would be deployed in the Persian Gulf to counter Iran comes just days ahead of the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is said to be planning a speech Wednesday on the anniversary to discuss the next steps Tehran will take in confronting the U.S. Officials in the Islamic Republic previously warned that Iran might increase its uranium enrichment, potentially pulling away from a deal it has sought to salvage for months.

The military has almost always had an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf as part of its sprawling military presence in the strategic region, but had begun to scale back its presence as the air campaign against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria wound down.

Sunday night’s statement from national security adviser John Bolton said the USS Abraham Lincoln, other ships in the carrier’s strike group and a bomber wing would deploy to the Mideast. Bolton blamed “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings,” without elaborating.

“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,” Bolton said.

In Iran, the semi-official ISNA news agency on Monday quoted an anonymous official as saying that Rouhani planned a broadcast address Wednesday and may discuss the “counteractions” Tehran will take over America’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It said Iranian officials have informed their European counterparts — with whom Iran has been trying to salvage the agreement — of the planned speech.

“Partial and total reduction of some of Iran’s commitments and resumption of some nuclear activities which were ceased following (the deal) are the first step,” ISNA said. Iranian state television and the semi-official Fars news agency similarly suggested an Iranian response loomed.

A spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Keivan Khosravi, also dismissed Bolton’s comments as “psychological warfare.”

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says Iran has continued to comply with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw it limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. But American sanctions have wreaked havoc on Iran’s already-anemic economy, while promised help from European partners in the deal haven’t alleviated the pain.

The U.S. last week stopped issuing waivers for countries importing Iranian crude oil, a crucial source of cash for Iran’s government.

It’s unclear what specific threat American officials perceive coming from Iran. A U.S. official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters, said American troops at land and sea could be targeted.

The USS Abraham Lincoln had been in the Mediterranean Sea conducting operations alongside the USS John C. Stennis, another aircraft carrier that has twice been in the Persian Gulf in recent months.

However, American military officials have stopped the near-continuous presence of aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, a pattern set following the 1991 Gulf War. American air bases spanning the region can scramble fighter jets and drones, lessening the necessity of an aircraft carrier as U.S. officials also worry about China and Russia.

Already in the Persian Gulf is a group of U.S. Navy warships led by the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious assault ship carrying troops from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Kearsarge also carries AV-8B Harrier fighter jets, MH-60 helicopters and MV-22 Osprey airplanes.

Across the wider 5th Fleet, there were 17 warships deployed, according to the most-recent count by the U.S. Naval Institute, which tracks deployments around the world.

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet declined to comment on the White House announcement when reached by the AP on Monday.

It also remains unclear what bomber wing would be deployed to the region. Typically, the al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, hosts such bomber deployments.

In late March, the Air Force acknowledged a rare gap in bomber cover in the Mideast after a squadron of B-1 Lancers left al-Udeid to return to Texas. B-52 bombers also had been deployed to the area to keep up attacks on the Islamic State group, the first time the aging aircraft had deployed to the region in 25 years.

Officials at al-Udeid, which also hosts the F-35 fighter jet, declined to answer questions from the AP.

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, still maintains 2,000 U.S. troops in the northern part of the war-torn country. Officials suggest they serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not regroup. No significant U.S. forces have so far withdrawn from Syria.

Trump has also said he has no plans to withdraw the 5,200 troops stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement to advise, assist and support the country’s troops in the fight against IS. Earlier this year, Trump angered Iraqi politicians and Iranian-backed factions by saying troops should stay there to keep an eye on neighbouring Iran.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Zeina Karam in Beirut contributed to this report.</s>Anjana Pasricha in New Delhi contributed to this report.

WHITE HOUSE — U.S. officials were keeping mum Monday on what signals from Iran were responsible for an unusual statement issued the previous evening by National Security Advisor John Bolton.

A “number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” linked to Iran prompted the United States to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group and bomber task force to the Middle East, said Bolton in his statement.

The dispatch is 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,” added Bolton.

Both the National Security Council and Defense Department declined, when contacted by VOA, to provide any additional details.

In addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, the strike group included fighter jets, helicopters, destroyers and more than 6,000 sailors when it left its U.S. port in (the state of) Virginia in early April.

The Nimitz-class carrier was in the Adriatic Sea as of May 1 when Albania’s president, Ilir Meta, visited the 333-meter-long vessel.

The deployment of the strike group had been planned “for some time now,” the chief of naval operations, Admiral John Richardson confirmed on Monday.

Speaking at a maritime exposition in the state of Maryland, Richardson, in response to a question at a seminar, characterized Bolton’s statement as a “great demonstration” of the navy’s capability to fluidly react to changing security situations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking to reporters traveling with him to Europe, declined to comment about what prompted the U.S. decision, but confirmed it had been under consideration for a while and that the administration has “good reason” to want to clearly communicate to Iran how it would respond to Iranian actions.

Bolton’s statement said 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.”

 

 New America Foundation Fellow Ned Price says recent actions to sanction the IRGC and end sanctions waivers for some of the country's biggest oil buyers make it seem like the Trump administration “seems intent on driving the Iranians into a corner.”

“The concern with Bolton's threat — coming in the midst of a series of escalations from the Trump administration — underscores the concern that the administration is trying to goad the Iranians into an unwise and ill-considered reaction,” Price, a former spokesman for the Obama-era National Security Council, tells VOA.

The Trump administration has been working to apply what it calls a “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran to try to get the country to change its behavior, including its sponsorship of terror groups and what the White House alleges is a ballistic missile program that threatens the United States.

In response to last month's U.S. designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group, Iran responded by declaring the United States a state sponsor of terrorism and its forces in the Middle East as terror groups.



 Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities, a research group that advocates that America maintain a strong, dynamic military but wants it to try to avoid being deployed in overseas wars. DePetris says that while Iran is meddlesome, the threats it poses can best be addressed with deterrence and diplomacy.

“Maximum pressure will fail to change the regime's behavior, but it will ratchet up tensions between the U.S. and Iran, possibly inciting a crisis or war, something Trump promised to avoid during his campaign,” DePetris tells VOA. “This is more evidence of a troublesome disconnect between the president and the people who ostensibly work under him. The Iranians are meddlesome actors, but they're far from a threat to the U.S., the world's only superpower.”

The vice president of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy praises the U.S. move.

“The U.S. is a global power with global interests and responsibilities,” James Jay Carafano tells VOA. “It’s a powerful statement to demonstrate the U.S. is not distracted by a host of challenges-in Venezuela, by provocations from North Korea, and yet, the U.S. has the resolve and capacity to show it can stand strong in the Middle East, as well.”

Bolton’s statement is raising concern in other countries.

India, whose economy is largely fueled by imported crude — much of it from Middle East countries such as Iraq and Saudi Arabia — is worried about the security of sea lanes through which its energy supplies flow.

“If you have a situation where Iran and America are actually entering into a confrontationist mode, then that will not only impact the two countries but the larger region,” says security analyst Harsh Pant at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

“The question of what happens to the larger region, what happens to the sea lanes of communication, I think that is going to be a challenge if this results in something bigger... India will wait and watch and see how far it goes.”

India, which has friendly relations with Iran and a growing strategic partnership with the United States, is also under pressure to slash oil imports from Iran.

Except for saying that there will be additional supplies from other oil-producing countries, New Delhi has not stated clearly whether it plans to bring down its imports from Iran to zero as the United States wants.

There has been no immediate reaction from Iran to Bolton’s statement.

One week ago, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Bolton and others, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of “designing confrontation,” but added that he did not “think military confrontation will happen.”

Speaking to CBS News, Zarif accused the U.S. administration of “putting things in place for accidents to happen. And there has to be extreme vigilance, so that people who are planning this type of accident would not have their way.”</s>Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency reportedly tipped off the United States on an impending Iranian attack on American interests in the Gulf, prompting Washington to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to the region late Sunday, in a sharp escalation of US President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign.

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser who advocated attacking Iran before taking up the post, announced late Sunday that the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would sail to unspecified waters in the vicinity of Iran.

The deployment is aimed at sending “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,” Bolton said.

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“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.”

According to Israel’s Channel 13, Israeli officials conveyed information gathered largely by the Mossad on an Iranian plan to attack either a US or US-allied target, details of which were not provided to the network.

The threat was initially raised two weeks ago in the White House, officials told Channel 13, when an Israeli delegation led by National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat huddled with their American counterparts.

“It is still unclear to us what the Iranians are trying to do and how they are planning to do it, but it is clear to us that the Iranian temperature is on the rise as a result of the growing US pressure campaign against them, and they are considering retaliating against US interests in the Gulf,” an official was quoted as saying.

The USS Abraham Lincoln has previously been deployed to the Gulf, including during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and was the scene of then-president George W. Bush’s later notorious victory speech in front of a banner that read “Mission Accomplished.”

The Pentagon had already announced with little fanfare last month that the USS Abraham Lincoln and the rest of its strike group had headed on a “regularly scheduled deployment” out of its base in Norfolk, Virginia.

But Bolton gave the deployment a new urgency as he said that it was in response to “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” by Iran.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters he could not elaborate on what those indications were, but said they were separate from a violent flare-up between Israel and Hamas, the Iranian-backed Islamist terror group that runs the Gaza Strip.

Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which advocates a hard line on Iran, said he had heard of a “spike” in intelligence in recent days about planned attacks.

He believed Iran had given the green-light to the missiles out of Gaza by Hamas and allied movement Islamic Jihad.

The strikes sought “to tie down Israeli forces and create a crisis to distract the US and Israel from IRGC plans elsewhere,” he said, referring to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Other observers were much more skeptical, believing that Bolton had seized on a routine deployment as a way to pile pressure on Iran.

The statement came almost a year to the date after Trump pulled the United States out of a multinational accord under which Tehran drastically scaled back its sensitive nuclear work.

“I think this is manufactured by Bolton to try to justify the administration’s very harsh policy toward Iran, despite the fact that Iran has been complying with the nuclear deal,” said Barbara Slavin, the director of the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council think tank.

“Given Bolton’s record,” she said, “I wouldn’t put it past him to try to manufacture a crisis here.”

UN inspectors say that Iran has been in compliance with the nuclear deal, which is still backed by European powers as well as Trump’s Democratic rivals seeking to unseat him next year.

But Iranians have voiced frustration that they have not seen a promised economic boon, with Trump instead slapping sweeping sanctions on the country.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has hit even harder, moving to ban all countries from buying Iran’s oil, its top export, and declaring the Revolutionary Guards to be a terrorist group — the first such designation of a unit of a foreign government.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may announce “retaliatory measures” on Wednesday on the anniversary of the US pullout, the semi-official ISNA news agency said on Monday.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who originally expected to be in Berlin today, makes an emergency trip to Iraq amid escalating tensions with Iran. Earlier this week, the U.S. deployed a bomber task force and the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region. In today's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih, Pompeo reaffirmed the longstanding U.S. policy to ensure nobody interferes in their country.