Photo: Stocktrek Images / Stocktrek Images / Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that a United States "armada" is heading toward Iran, while emphasizing his hope to avoid military action as tensions escalate over the regime's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and several guided-missile destroyers are expected to arrive in the Middle East within days, according to U.S. officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
A U.S. Navy official confirmed Thursday that the Lincoln strike group is currently in the Indian Ocean.
Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One, President Trump confirmed the deployment while maintaining diplomatic flexibility. "We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won't have to use it," he said. The military buildup comes as activists report the death toll from Iran's crackdown has reached at least 5,032 people killed, with fears that many more remain unconfirmed due to a comprehensive internet blackout entering its third week.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that more than 4,700 of the dead were demonstrators, while over 27,600 people have been detained in a widening arrest campaign. This death toll exceeds any previous round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades.
Iran's government offered its first death toll Wednesday, claiming 3,117 people were killed since demonstrations began December 28. The regime stated that 2,427 of the dead were civilians and security forces, with the rest categorized as "terrorists." The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the death toll due to authorities blocking internet access and international calls into the country.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution Thursday condemning Iran's "repression and mass murders being perpetrated by the Iranian regime against protesters in Iran." The resolution called for the release of detained protesters and urged the European Council to designate Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Iran's foreign ministry responded Friday with a statement warning that "any illegal or interventionist decision" concerning Iran's armed forces "will be met with reciprocal action."
The UK Defense Ministry separately announced its joint Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet squadron with Qatar deployed to the Persian Gulf "for defensive purposes noting regional tensions."