NEW YORK, March 31. /TASS/. The American amphibious assault ship the USS Tripoli, replete with a task force of about 3,500 sailors and Marines, is in the Indian Ocean, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported.
It published a photograph dated March 29, showing the ship in the Indian Ocean. The US Central Command did not specify how far the USS Tripoli currently is from the coast of Iran. On March 28, CENTCOM reported that the amphibious assault ship had arrived in the US Central Command area of operational responsibility, which primarily includes the Middle East.
On March 29, US President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility that US forces would attempt to seize Iran’s Kharg Island. On March 26, the American news outlet Axios, citing US officials and its sources, reported that the Pentagon was preparing four possible escalation scenarios with Iran, which could include seizing the Kharg, Larak, or Abu Musa islands.
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.