US President Donald Trump has escalated military pressure on Iran by ordering a powerful Carrier Strike Group to abandon operations in the South China Sea and sail directly towards the Persian Gulf, a journey that will consume five to eight days.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by advanced Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, has received explicit orders to reposition amidst escalating tensions surrounding mass anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran for nearly three weeks and threatened to destabilise the entire region.
