Navy destroyer, aircraft join US armada amassing near Iran
The US is rapidly massing warships and strike aircraft around Iran as President Donald Trump openly threatens military action in an apparent bid to coerce its leaders to surrender their nuclear program.
WASHINGTON — The US Navy shifted an additional Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to join at least five others and an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, entering Middle Eastern waters on Thursday after President Donald Trump publicly threatened to take military action against Iran.
The USS Delbert D. Black was in the Red Sea on Thursday, US officials said. The Black’s positioning bolsters the already massive firepower that the Pentagon has accumulated near Iran over the past week.
Two additional guided-missile destroyers, the USS Mitscher and the USS McFaul, were near the Strait of Hormuz, while the USS Abraham Lincoln and its three accompanying destroyers were crossing into the Arabian Sea from the Indian Ocean after leaving the Pacific last week.
On Wednesday, Trump posted an explicit warning directed to Iran’s leaders on his social media site, citing the approach of the Lincoln strike group while urging them to enter into negotiations with Washington over ending Tehran’s nuclear program.
