US sends warship and missiles to Middle East to counter Iran
The move reflects ongoing concerns that Tehran may be planning to attack American forces or interests in the region.
Tuesday 14 May 2019 09:49, UK
The United States is sending a warship and a Patriot air defence missile system to the Middle East to counter threats from Iran.
The USS Arlington, an amphibious ship designed to carry Marines and combat helicopters, is heading to the region from Europe over concerns Tehran may be planning an attack on American forces or interests in the region.
The Patriot, a long-range, all-weather air defence system, is designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.
The decision comes after intelligence showed that the Iranians have loaded military equipment and missiles on to small boats controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, an official said.
The Pentagon would not confirm if the intelligence showed that the boats have mobile launchers on them.
The latest assets will join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, which has passed through the Suez Canal and is now in the Red Sea, and a US Air Force bomber task force of B-52s which has landed at Al Udeid air base in Qatar.
Both were deployed to the region earlier in the week in response to "heightened Iranian readiness to conduct offensive operations," the Pentagon said.
US military's Central Command has warned action could take the form of attacks on US assets and forces in Iraq and Syria carried out by Iranian proxies such as Shia militia groups in Iraq.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Baghdad on Tuesday to emphasise Iraq's need to protect Americans in their country.
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Washington intelligence chiefs believe the Iranian government, battling economic strife, may try to provoke the US into military action to cement its hold on power, the New York Times has reported.
Those economic woes are in part down to US sanctions, which Donald Trump expanded on Wednesday to Iranian metals, Tehran's largest non-petroleum-related sources of export revenue.
The US president also demanded countries stop buying Tehran's oil or face sanctions of their own.
The US has designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group and Iran responded with threats to close the Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, where about a third of the world's oil export vessels pass.
Last year, Mr Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal created by his predecessor, Barack Obama, calling it a "horrible, one-sided" deal.
The other signatories, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany have not followed suit.
Anti-US protests took place in Tehran on Friday.