{"id":46009,"date":"2019-05-08T10:05:11","date_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=46009"},"modified":"2019-05-08T10:05:14","modified_gmt":"2019-05-08T15:05:14","slug":"media-blackout-u-s-and-iran-tensions-rise-iran-claims-arrest-of-290-cia-agents-u-s-sends-2-aircraft-carriers-to-mediterranean-bolton-pompeo-issue-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=46009","title":{"rendered":"Media Blackout: U.S. and Iran Tensions Rise \u2014 Iran Claims Arrest of 290 CIA Agents; U.S. Sends 2 Aircraft Carriers To Mediterranean; Bolton &#038; Pompeo Issue Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/2019\/05\/media-blackout-us-iran-tensions-rise-iran-claims-arrests-290-cia-agents-u-s-sends-2-aircraft-carriers-to-mediterranean-bolton-pompeo-issue-threats.html\">Media Blackout: U.S. and Iran Tensions Rise \u2014 Iran Claims Arrest of 290 CIA Agents; U.S. Sends 2 Aircraft Carriers To Mediterranean; Bolton &amp; Pompeo Issue Threats <\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/04_pepe_escobar_990-ab.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.activistpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/04_pepe_escobar_990-ab-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-176391\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>U.S. and Iranian tensions are rising at a rapid rate. National Security Adviser John Bolton has publicly acknowledged deploying the&nbsp;<em>U.S.S Abraham Lincoln<\/em>&nbsp;carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) region as a \u201cclear 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, this follows reports on April 22nd that the U.S.S.&nbsp;<em>John C. Stennis<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Abraham Lincoln<\/em>&nbsp;carrier strike groups have joined the US Mediterranean 6<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;Fleet for the first time in more than two years, as&nbsp;<em>DEBKAfile<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debka.com\/us-deploys-two-carrier-strike-groups-in-mediterranean-first-time-since-2016\/\">reported<\/a>. For those unaware, DEBKA is used by Mossad intelligence very frequently to get their news\/intelligence within the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An earlier&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dof2RDYHyV\">report<\/a>&nbsp;by the Navy\u2019s military site actually announced the deployment in early April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Here&#8217;s the Navy announcing Bolton&#8217;s &#8220;announcement&#8221; one month ago.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dof2RDYHyV\">https:\/\/t.co\/dof2RDYHyV<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ElYrimdC4n\">pic.twitter.com\/ElYrimdC4n<\/a><\/p><p>\u2014 Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko)&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MicahZenko\/status\/1125209575060398080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that the U.S. may have two carrier strike groups within striking distance of Iran, not just one as the U.S. media is reporting, and&nbsp;<em>DEBKAfile<\/em>&nbsp;may have leaked intelligence (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.fo\/FvPrN\">archived.<\/a>) Although Vice Adm Lisa Franchetti is the source of the story, this writer couldn\u2019t find a source for any of the quotes external to<em>&nbsp;DEBKAfile<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Vice Admiral Franchetti commented that it was a rare opportunity for two strike groups to work together alongside key allies and partners in the region. Our sources say she was referring to British, French and Israeli naval forces. The vice admiral, who has served as 6<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;Fleet commander since early 2018, added: \u201cThe dual carrier operations in the Mediterranean showcase the flexibility and scalability maritime forces provide to the joint force, while demonstrating our ironclad commitment to the stability and security of the region.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;\u2026click on the above link to read the rest of the article\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media Blackout: U.S. and Iran Tensions Rise \u2014 Iran Claims Arrest of 290 CIA Agents; U.S. Sends 2 Aircraft Carriers To Mediterranean; Bolton &amp; Pompeo Issue Threats U.S. and Iranian tensions are rising at a rapid rate. National Security Adviser John Bolton has publicly acknowledged deploying the&nbsp;U.S.S Abraham Lincoln&nbsp;carrier strike group and a bomber task [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[15972,14829],"class_list":["post-46009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitics","category-liberty","tag-aaron-kesel","tag-us-central-command"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46010,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46009\/revisions\/46010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}