Why does the US aircraft carrier sail to the Arabian Gulf?
The American aircraft carrier John C. Stennis has arrived in the Arabian Gulf. Active since 1995, it is one of the United States Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers currently in service. Before, the closest US aircraft carrier in this region was the carrier Eisenhower on the operation area of the Sixth Fleet and the Mediterranean.
The reason for the arrival of the USS John C. Stennis comes as Iranian officials have threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf from which a third of all oil traded by sea passes. The Stennis and its strike group were followed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats, which fired rockets and flew a drone near it at one point.
The Iranian threat is a daily presence at the table of military officials. A previous statement by the US Department of Defense said that “the ministry periodically evaluates the military deployment worldwide and adjusts the deployment of mobile and resident forces based on changes in needs and in the operational environment.”
The US Department of Defense informed that those changes lead the Joint Chiefs of Staff to reassess data and submit proposals to the Secretary of Defense minister’s office. This path considers many elements, including policy objectives, risk assessment, cost, impact on the readiness of forces, and global needs comparison.
The American military experts believe that it is necessary to consider the Arab military power, especially the Saudi military arsenal. The Saudi air force and Saudi capabilities in monitoring, radar and anti-missile systems are of high capacity. They do not need additional American forces to repel Iranian air or missile attacks.
It is possible to draw attention to the situation indicator by saying that keeping the aircraft carrier away from Iran means that the US diplomacy is still trying. The John C. Stannis heading to the region means the United States is waving strength after policy failure with the Iranian regime.
