BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:00 P.M.) – The spokeswoman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Rebecca Rebarich, announced that the aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz, entered the Persian Gulf after crossing the Strait of Hormuz accompanied by other US ships.
Rebarich stated that the US aircraft carrier arrived in the region after participating in exercises with the Indian, Australian and Japanese navies, noting that its arrival in the region is part of the annual plan set for it.
US media sources reported earlier that sending the US aircraft carrier to the Gulf region is linked to the withdrawal of US military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Acting US Defense Secretary, Christopher Miller announced on Monday that Washington decided to reduce the number of its forces in Iraq and Afghanistan by January 15 to 2,500 personnel for each country, based on the directions of President Donald Trump and after consulting with the National Security Council and military leaders.
Last month, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the formation of a technical committee tasked with coordinating with the United States to schedule the redeployment of US forces outside Iraq.
It is noteworthy to mention that the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted last January, in an emergency session attended by former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, on a resolution obliging the government to work to end the request for assistance submitted by it to the international coalition led by Washington and end any presence of foreign forces on the territories.
This move came in response to the US raid in Baghdad that resulted in the assassinations of the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Major General Qassem Soleimani.
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