WASHINGTON – The United States (US) has deployed a Patriot air defence missile system and a warship to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran, the Radio Pakistan reported.
US officials in Pentagon said that US B-52 bombers have also arrived at a base in Qatar. It said the moves were a response to threats of possible operations against US forces in the region by Iran.
Earlier on Friday, Iran s Revolutionary Guards rejected any possibility of negotiations with the US and a senior cleric warned that a U.S. navy fleet and commercial ships including oil tankers headed towards the Gulf through key Middle East waterways, could be “destroyed with one missile”.
Tensions have risen between Tehran and Washington since the Trump administration withdrew a year ago from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began intensifying sanctions to jolt Tehran’s economy.
Washington further tightened sanctions on Iran this month aiming to reduce Tehran’s crude exports to zero.
Iran In response said that it would stop abiding by key parts of the nuclear agreement.
