Washington, Jan 23 (.) US President Donald Trump has said an “armada” of US warships is headed towards the Middle East, and the US is monitoring Iran closely, even as activists put the death toll from Tehran’s crackdown on protesters at 5,002.
Speaking on Air Force One as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos overnight, Trump said: “We have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case. I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely … we have an armada … heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it.”
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers are due to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days. Additional air defence systems are being deployed, most likely around US and Israeli airbases. The UK said it would send RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets from 12 Squadron to Qatar, at Doha’s request.
The Lincoln carrier strike group brings about 5,000 sailors and Marines with squadrons of fighter jets, helicopters, and electronic attack aircraft.
The Lincoln was in the Pacific when President Trump first issued a warning on social media that the US was “locked and loaded” to hit Iran if the regime killed anti-government protesters.
Last week, Trump toned down his threats against Iran after he said he had heard “on good authority” that “the killing in Iran is stopping,” and later said Iran’s alleged cancellation of executions “had a big impact” on his decision not to strike Iran that week.
His comments on Thursday about the flotilla making its way to the Middle East indicate he has not completely ruled out action against Iran over its handling of the mass demonstrations over worsening economic conditions.
In an update on Friday, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said the death toll from the Iranian crackdown on protesters had reached 5,002 – comprising 4,716 demonstrators, 203 government-affiliated people, 43 children and 40 civilians not taking part in the protests.
The protests started on December 28 when traders took to the streets in Tehran in response to a sudden dip in the value of the rial. As they spread, demands expanded to include calls for an end to the country’s government, creating the most serious and deadliest unrest in the country since the 1979 revolution.
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