US modifies the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz because of threats from Iran

US acting secretary of defence Christopher Miller ordered on Sunday that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz should modify its deployment strategy and remain in place in the area assigned to the US Central Command, which includes the Gulf, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, due to purported Iranian threats carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran against Donald Trump and members of the US executive just on the anniversary of the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds forces (international division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard), following a US operation carried out last year near Baghdad airport and after the assassination also of Mohsen Fajrizadeh, considered the director of the Persian atomic programme.  

“Due to the recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) to halt its routine redeployment," Miller said in a statement. “USS Nimitz will now remain on station in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America", the official note added. 

On November 28, the American “CNN” network stated that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is being transferred to the Persian Gulf region along with other warships "to provide combat support and air cover with the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan by January 15".

The network made it clear at the time that the decision to return the aircraft carrier to the Gulf was taken before the news of the murder of the Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fajrizadeh in November, near the Iranian capital, Tehran, pointing out that "the movements of US forces are a major deterrent message to Iran". 

The decision to return Nimitz to the Gulf came a week after the US Central Command announced the deployment of a new air force in the Middle East, including the B-52 aircraft, in order to "deter aggression and reassure the United States' partners and allies", according to the official statement of the US army.  

Iran has repeatedly promised to take revenge on the specific individuals responsible for the actions carried out against Soleimani and Fajrizadeh. This would include President Donald Trump and other senior US officials.

Ismail Qaani, the new head of the Quds forces following the elimination of Soleimani, even threatened the United States with direct references to possible acts of terrorism on US soil in connection with the deaths of Soleimani and Fajrizadeh. "Everywhere in the world a man might be found" who is ready to "punish those responsible", Qaani said.

The United States has responded to these threats in many ways. The US has sent a guided missile submarine to the Gulf and has also flown B-52 bombers over the region as a warning to Iran not to carry out any act of revenge during the anniversary of Soleimani's death.

However, on Thursday Iran's President Hassan Rohani repeated the threat of revenge, and the Iranian media presented General Qassem Soleimani as a hero of Iran and the Islamic world.