IRAN: ‘US military in Gulf a target not a threat’
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday the US military presence in the Gulf used to be a serious threat but now represented a target, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported. This is even as President Hassan Rouhani has said that Iran is facing “unprecedented” pressure from international sanctions. The US military […]
The USS Abraham Lincoln sails south in the Suez canal near Ismailia, Thursday, May 9, 2019. The White House said Wednesday it dispatched the aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf over what it described as a new threat from Iran. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)
A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Sunday the US military presence in the Gulf used to be a serious threat but now represented a target, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported.
This is even as President Hassan Rouhani has said that Iran is facing “unprecedented” pressure from international sanctions.
The US military has sent forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East in a move US officials said was to counter “clear indications” of threats from Iran to its forces in the region.
The USS Abraham Lincoln is replacing another carrier rotated out of the Gulf last month.
“An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now it is a target and the threats have switched to opportunities,” said Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the Guards’ aerospace division.