US deploys carrier strike group to send clear message to Iran

The US is deploying an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran that any attack on American interests or its allies will be met with "unrelenting force", National Security Advisor John Bolton has said.

Bolton said on Sunday the decision to deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region in the Middle East was in response to a number of "troubling and escalatory indications and warnings" from Iran.

The deployment of the strike group and bomber task force comes after US President Donald Trump last month refused to give waivers to countries like India from buying oil from Iran, in an attempt to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.

After coming to power, Trump withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal last year and has imposed stringent sanctions against what he describes as the "authoritarian" Iranian regime.

"In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings, the United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force," Bolton said.

"The United States 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," he said in a statement.

The US is seeking to ramp up pressure on Iran to counter what the White House perceives to be a potential threat.

Last month, the US designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a foreign terrorist organisation, the first time the designation has been applied to a government entity.

The designation categorises Iran's military alongside groups like ISIS, al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who controls the elite military force, called the designation a "vicious move" and a "mistake."