US Aircraft Carrier Moves Into Arabian Sea Because of Yemen Security Situation
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Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — The Pentagon confirmed on Monday that the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the cruiser USS Normandy have moved into the Arabian Sea because of the deteriorating security situation in Yemen.
Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said that U.S. Central Command moved ships because of the deteriorating security situation in Yemen.
Warren specifically denied a media report that the two American ships were being moved so they could assist in the interception of a flotilla of seven to nine Iranian ships headed to Yemen to re-supply Houthi rebels.
“They are not going to intercept Iranian ships,” said Warren. “That is absolutely not the case.”
On April 1, the U.S. Navy boarded a Panamanian-flagged ship that was believed might be transporting supplies from Iran to the Houthis. No weapons were found and there have been no other boardings since then.
Seven other American warships have been operating in the Gulf of Aden for weeks, including the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
The United States closed its embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in mid-February.
In late March, the U.S. evacuated 300 military personnel from a base in southern Yemen.
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