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

TheU.S.Navy’s5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain has been reduced to “mission critical” staffing ahead of potential U.S.strikes on Iran, multiple U.S. 

There are now fewer than 100 personnel remaining at the facility, the officials said.A separate U.S.official disputed the other officials, saying there has been no ordered departure yet for American personnel or their dependents in Bahrain.

Ahead of Operation Midnight Hammer last June, when the U.S.struckIranian nuclear sites,the 5th Fleet headquarters was evacuated in a similar manner.

The U.S.has been surging military assets to the Middle East in recent weeks as discussions have been ongoing between the U.S.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 ships in the region — have regularly been performing maintenance to “keep 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) regularly perform maintenance to keep aircraft mission-ready.”(CENTCOM)

“Their experience and skills allow Abraham Lincoln to sustain continuous airpower and conduct over 100 sorties per day,” CENTCOM said on X. 

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President Donald Trumpwarned in his State of the Unionaddress earlier this week that Iran has “sinister ambitions” with its nuclear program and that the U.S.has not yet heard from Tehran that it will “never have a nuclear weapon.”   

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U.S.Central Command said the USS Abraham Lincoln can “sustain continuous airpower and conduct over 100 sorties per day.”(CENTCOM)

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“After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program and, in particular, nuclear weapons.Yet they continue starting it all over.We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said Tuesday, referencing the U.S.strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer.  

The headquarters of the U.S.5th Fleet in Bahrain.(Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Adelola Tinubu/U.S.Naval Forces Central Command/U.S.5th Fleet )

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