Blink: USS Abraham Lincoln Sails Into Waters Off Iran After Iran Threatens to Torpedo US Carriers

By Barbara Starr – “(CNN) — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Arabian Sea on Thursday, Navy officials said, a likely prelude to testing Iran’s recent warning against sending a U.S. carrier through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Lincoln joins the USS Carl Vinson, already in the region, returning the U.S. Navy its standard two-carrier presence there. The carrier USS John Stennis left in the past few days and is now traveling back through the western Pacific.

The Lincoln’s arrival puts into place all the elements for a U.S. carrier to travel back into the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since recent tensions with Iran escalated.

U.S. military officials have told CNN the United States will continue its long-standing military commitment to having an aircraft carrier in the Gulf, but will not say when the transit will take place in light of security concerns about Iran.

Several weeks ago, as the Stennis left the Gulf, Iranian officials warned the United States not to send in another carrier. In recent years, the United States has kept one carrier in the Gulf and one in the North Arabian Sea for much of the time.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said that the U.S. naval and military presence in the region will not change and the current level is sufficient to deal with any situation that could arise.” Read more.

Iran Threatens To Torpedo US Carriers In The Persian Gulf – “Underscoring its desire to keep U.S. aircraft carriers from the Persian Gulf, a senior Iranian military commander today announced his possible plan to ambush the American fleet… Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army’s Self-Sufficiency Jihad, Rear Admiral Farhad Amiri told FARS that Iran has the finest electric diesel submarines in the world, and that while the U.S. has focused on Tehran’s ‘astonishing surface capabilities,’ it has forgotten about the underwater threat. Amiri said he plans to slip his fleet of subs onto the Persian Gulf floor and ‘fire missiles and torpedoes simultaneously.’ Iran claims to have 17 Ghadir diesel electric subs in its fleet, and four have been photographed together, so the threat is not entirely without merit.” Read more.