Trump Says Large U.S. Naval Force Is Heading Toward Iran

President Trump said late Thursday that the United States was “watching Iran” and that a large naval force was heading toward the country, telling reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos that “we have a big flotilla going in that direction” and describing it as an “armada.” The Pentagon last week ordered the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and three Tomahawk-capable destroyers in the South China Sea to head to the Middle East, according to two U.S.

officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and the Air Force sent about a dozen F-15E fighters to the region, the officials said. Mr. Trump has also said his threats helped halt executions in Iran, claiming more than 830 were stopped, a figure Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi, denied, according to the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency.

The comments come nearly a month after antigovernment protests began in Iran over economic hardship. The Iranian government said it had quelled the demonstrations and has imposed a severe digital and communications blackout. Officials have described demonstrators as “rioters” and “terrorists,” and state television said more than 3,100 people had been killed; human rights groups have reported higher tolls, with one group saying over 5,000 and another putting the figure above 3,400.

Mr. Trump warned Iran that executions would bring a harsher U.S.

Key Topics

World, President Trump, Iran, Abraham Lincoln, Tomahawk Missiles, World Economic Forum