Days after ordering a United States aircraft carrier out of the Middle East, the country’s acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller has reversed that decision, instructing the USS Nimitz to remain in place due to purported Iranian threats “against President Trump and other US government officials.”
Miller said in a statement Sunday night that he had “ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment.” The carrier will now “remain on station in the US Central Command area of operations,” Miller added. “No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America.”
Last week, the acting Defense Secretary had decided against a push to extend the carrier’s deployment in the Persian Gulf, a surprising move given rising tensions between Washington and Tehran around the anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani last year. In the last days of 2020, the US flew nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East, prompting a senior Iranian military adviser to tweet directly at Trump, warning him “not to turn the New Year into a mourning for Americans.”
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