Second US aircraft carrier arrives near Iran
RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday February 20, 2007
MANAMA - A second US aircraft carrier has arrived in Middle Eastern waters
as promised by US President George W. Bush in January amid an escalating
crisis with nearby Iran over its nuclear program.
The USS John C. Stennis and its accompanying strike group joined the USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Sea of Oman but has not yet entered Gulf
waters, the US Fifth Fleet said Tuesday from its base in Manama.
The Stennis "entered the US 5th Fleet area of operations... to conduct
maritime security operations in regional waters, as well as to provide
support for ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq," said a US
statement.
Bush on January 10 unveiled his new strategy for Iraq which included
deploying a second aircraft carrier group and a Patriot anti-missile
defense system "to reassure our friends and allies."
Washington accuses arch-foe Tehran of stoking the insurgency in Iraq and
of seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, charges denied by the Islamic
republic.
Days after Bush's announcement, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the
Stennis's redeployment was a signal to Iran, which, he said, has a "very
negative" attitude.
Iran has also been carrying out military exercises in the region,
including test-firing missiles and building drones that military
commanders boasted could hit the US Navy.
The White House has repeatedly insisted it has no plans to strike Iran,
and downplayed the significance of reinforcing the US military presence in
the Gulf region.
Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the US
military build-up in the Gulf, saying it did not fit in with Washington's
Iraq strategy.
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