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As per the report from U.S. officials, the U.S. is seeing an increasing indication that Iran might be planning an attack against the American interest and forces in the Middle East. The U.S. officials said after reading Iran’s intention “difficult and at times unpredictable.”
The officials exclaimed that indications are taken seriously. The one-year anniversary of the U.S killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani is a few days away. On 3rd Jan 2020, Soleimani was killed in a U.S. dronestrike in Iraq. The Defense Department characterized it as “defensive action” because it alleged the leader of Iran’s Quds Force which was a developing plans for attacking Americans. Iran has launched missiles against the U.S. forces in Iraq in response to the killing days later.
In this week, the U.S. flew B-52 bombers based at a Minot, North Dakota, Air Force base to the Middle East in a “deliberate appearance.” U.S. Central command said in the second such show of force this month. Recently, the U.S. has accused what it said Iranian-backed militia of a December.20 rocket attack on Baghdad’s green zone, in which 21 rockets were fired. On Thursday, in objection to the B-52 flights Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister tweeted: “Intelligence from Iraq indicates plot to FABRICATE pretext for war.”
On 23rd December, President Donald Trump in reference to the rocket attack that damaged the U.S. embassy in the green zone tweeted: “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.”
“We’d be happy with de-escalation,” the U.S. official said Thursday, adding that amid the uncertainty, the situation continues to be watched closely.
This tension arises a week before the president-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in, and the Iranian regime sends clear signals which want U.S. sanctions lifted and something an attack could jeopardize. On Thursday, the Pentagon said that the aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz was ordered to return to its U.S homeport after a 10-month deployment to the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
“We continue to watch Iran very closely,” Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller told NBC News in a statement late Thursday.
He said, “While it is my hope that we enter 2021 peacefully and without conflict, the Department is at the ready to defend the American people and her interests.”
