RING OF STEEL
US moves Patriot missile system to Middle East as stand off with Iran escalates
The Pentagon has assembled a strike force, including two warships, in the region in response to a potential threat to US troops by Iran
THE US is sending its missile-busting Patriot defence system to the Middle East as part of a formidable strike group amid escalating tensions with Iran.
The USS Arlington warship, which carries aircrafts and amphibious vehicles, will also join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf.
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According to the Pentagon, US B-52 bombers have arrived at a base in Qatar in a menacing warning to Iran.
Washington says the formation of the strike group is a response to a possible threat to American forces in the Middle East by the despotic Iranian regime.
The Islamic Republic - once the US’ close ally in the region until its blood-drenched revolution in 1979 – has branded the deployment as "psychological warfare” aimed at intimidating the country.
Officials said military moves were based in part on indications that Iran had moved short-range ballistic missiles onto small boats called dhows along its shore.
They would not say if the intelligence showed that the boats have mobile launchers on them.
John Bolton, the national security adviser, announced the initial moves on Sunday, citing "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" but did not explain what the alleged threats were.
On Friday, a defence official said the Iranian threats also include potential attacks by Iranian proxies, such as Shia militias in Iraq.
'PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE'
Several officials said they have not yet seen any tangible move by Iran in reaction to American military shifts in the area.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a quick visit Tuesday to Baghdad to meet with top leaders and underscore Iraq's need to protect US troops in their country.
The Abraham Lincoln warship and accompanying boats have passed through the Suez Canal and are now in the Red Sea.
Pentagon officials also said yesterday that the USS Arlington will move to the Middle East region earlier than planned.
The ship is in Europe and will be replacing the USS McHenry, which is scheduled to leave.
Iran also suggested it could resume nuclear activities such as uranium enrichment – something which was prohibited in the nuke deal which Donald Trump pulled the US out of, reports The BBC.
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Why are there tensions between the US and Iran?
Before the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iran was one of America's biggest allies in the troubled Middle East and was led by the US-backed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
However, since the seismic revolt, Iran has been led by murderous Islamic fundamentalists and tensions with Washington have remained ever since.
On November 4, 1979, the Iranian regime took 52 US diplomats hostage in response to President Carter’s administration allowing Iran’s deposed former leader into America.
The hostage crisis lasted for 444 days and also included a failed rescue mission which cost the lives of eight US soldiers.
In April 1980, the US ended diplomatic relations with Iran – a break which lasted for more than 30 years.
HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
In April 1983, Washington blamed the Iranian-funded terror group Hezbollah for carrying out a bombing attack on the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
The assault, carried out amid a brutal civil war in Lebanon, killed 17 Americans.
In November of that year, two truck bombs in Beruit killed 241 US peace keepers. The US again blamed Hezbollah for the incident.
The Clinton White House, in 1995, placed a total embargo on Iran meaning US companies could not trade with the country.
And in 2002, George W Bush included the Islamic Republic in his famous “Axis of evil” speech along with North Korea and Iraq.
What is the Iran nuclear deal?
The deal was an agreement between the Islamic Republic and a group of world powers aimed at scrapping the Middle Eastern country's nuclear weapons programme.
It saw Iran agree to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium by 98 per cent.
According to the deal, Iran would receive relief from the US, European Union, and the United Nations Security Council on all nuclear-related economic sanctions.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The agreement was reached on July 14, 2015, and the world powers signed it in Vienna.
However, on May 8, 2018, President Trump announced the US will withdraw from the agreement - which he has repeatedly called "insane" and ridiculous".
America's withdrawal from the agreement mean crippling economic sanctions will once again be placed on Iran - further heightening tensions between the two countries.
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Iran President Hassan Rouhani warns US it faces the 'mother of all wars'
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