US sends aircraft carrier to West Asia to warn Iran

The United States said it's sending an aircraft carrier strike group and bomber force to West Asia to send an "unmistakable message" to the Iranian regime, citing "a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" it suggested were linked to

Tehran

.


"The US is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

, or regular Iranian forces," national security adviser

John Bolton

said on Sunday.

Without giving further details, Bolton said the deployment of the bomber force and USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group would send a "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on US interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force".

It wasn't clear what prompted the move. The USS Abraham Lincoln had in recent weeks been docked at the port of San Diego.

Pentagon

officials didn't respond to a request for comment. Tensions with

Iran

have been rising for months as US sanctions squeezed the economy, stoking inflation and undermining investment.