US ready for major military exercise in the Middle East

TT

Published 18.54

 

American fighter aircraft of the type Boeing EA-18G Growler on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. Archive photo. Photo: Seaman Daniel Kimmelma/U.S. Military Via AP/TT

The US military announces that it will conduct a multi-day exercise in the Middle East, at the same time as the tone has become sharper between Washington and Tehran regarding, among other things, how protests have been brutally suppressed in Iran.

The military exercise is led by the US Air Force and takes place after the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln arrived in the region. The exercise is to "demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse and sustain combat power in the air," announced the US Central Command.

The US did not announce when the exercise will take place.

President Donald Trump has previously threatened to take military action against the regime in Tehran over the violence used against protesters. The United States has also warned Iran about its nuclear energy program, and Iranian facilities were bombed by the United States during the war between Israel and Iran last year.