CNN quoted a Pentagon official as saying that the ministry decided to move the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the Gulf region with other warships.
The official added that the decision to return the aircraft carrier to the Gulf was taken before the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated Friday in an attack on his car near the capital, Tehran.
The official emphasized that the presence of the carrier in the Gulf will provide combat support with the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that the movements of his country's forces in the region are a message of deterrence to Iran as well.
In a related context, another US official confirmed to the network that the situation is very sensitive in the Gulf region, and that the Ministry of Defense is monitoring it closely, stressing that "the last thing we want now is the conflict with Iran."
According to the network, the United States currently has more than 50 thousand soldiers only in the region, which is not enough to launch a continuous military campaign against Iran.
The United States continues to monitor the intelligence leads of the threats it expects as the first anniversary of the killing of the Quds Force commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by an American operation in early January of last year, approaches, an attack Iran has pledged to respond to.