"The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has also arrived in the US 5th Fleet area of operations", Rebarich said. B-52 bombers arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday, Rebarich added.
On Sunday, National Security Adviser John Bolton said the United States was deploying the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and a bomber task force near Iran, to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) region.
READ MORE: Bolton Held ‘Rare' Meeting on Iran With Top Intel, DoD Advisers at CIA — Reports
Bolton said the move is a clear and unmistakable message to Iran that any attack on US and allied interests will be met with "unrelenting force".
"The regime in Tehran should understand that any attacks by them or their proxies of any identity against US interests or citizens will be answered with a swift and decisive US response", Pompeo said Thursday.
On Wednesday, one year after the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, Tehran announced that it had discontinued some of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and gave the other parties 60 days to ensure Iran’s interests were protected or else the country will resume enriching uranium at higher levels.
READ MORE: US Escalation: On the Road to War with Iran
Iranian officials said they decided to suspend some of Tehran's obligations under the JCPOA after the US violated the agreement by imposing new sanctions, and after the agreement's other signatories — Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China an Russia — failed to adequately resolve the situation.
