US Navy reduces staff to ‘mission critical’ levels in Bahrain ahead of potential strikes on Iran: officials

THE The American Navy The 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to “mission essential” personnel in anticipation of possible U.S. strikes against Iran, several U.S. officials told Fox News.

There are now fewer than 100 people left at the facility. Before Operation Midnight Hammer last June, when the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites, the 5th Fleet headquarters was similarly evacuated.

The United States has increased its military assets in the Middle East in recent weeks as discussions continue between the United States and Iran over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program.

U.S. Central Command said this week that sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln — one of the region’s ships — were performing regular maintenance to “keep the aircraft mission ready.”

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U.S. Central Command released this photo on Feb. 24, saying: “Sailors and Marines aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) routinely perform maintenance operations to keep the aircraft mission ready. » (CENTCOM)

“Their experience and skills enable Abraham Lincoln to maintain continuous air power and conduct more than 100 sorties per day,” CENTCOM said on X.

President Donald Trump warned in his State of the Union earlier this week, he said Iran had “sinister ambitions” with its nuclear program and that the United States had yet to hear Tehran say it would “never have a nuclear weapon.”

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“After Midnight Hammer, they were warned not to make any more attempts to rebuild their weapons program and, in particular, their nuclear weapons. Yet they continue to do it all over again. We wiped it out, and they want to do it all over again and are pursuing their sinister ambitions again,” Trump said Tuesday, referring to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer.

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“We’re in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words: ‘We’ll never have nuclear weapons,'” Trump added. “My preference is to resolve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism, by far, to possess nuclear weapons. I cannot let that happen.”

This is a developing story. Please check again for updates.

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