The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is now making a u-turn to head back to waters near Iran. After announcing on Dec. 31 that he had ordered the Nimitz to return home, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller issued a statement last night announcing that he had changed his mind. “Due to the recent threats issued by Iranian leaders against President Trump and other U.S. government officials, I have ordered the USS Nimitz to halt its routine redeployment,” he said. “The USS Nimitz will now remain on station in the U.S. Central Command area of operations. No one should doubt the resolve of the United States of America.”
The New York Times reports that it is unclear what specific Iranian threat prompted Miller to change his mind. The rhetoric from Tehran has certainly intensified in recent days and there’s evidence of increased alert postures of some Iranian military units, but those could be, as the Times reports at the end, defensive rather than offensive alerts.
