Reprinted with permission from TheNewAmerican.com.

Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, said on May 12 — in response to the U.S. decision to deploy the USS Abraham Lincoln (shown) with Carrier Strike Group 12 and a bomber task force to the Middle East — that the action has transformed the U.S. presence from a “serious threat” to “a target.”

“An aircraft carrier that has at least 40 to 50 planes on it and 6,000 forces gathered within it was a serious threat for us in the past but now it is a target and the threats have switched to opportunities,” a Reuters report quoted Hajizadeh.

“If [the Americans] make a move, we will hit them in the head,” he was quoted by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

The United States did not specify exactly where in the Middle East the carrier group was bound for, only that it would be the U.S. Central Command region.

A May 6 AP report in the Military Times quoted National Security Advisor John Bolton’s statement that the United States wants to send a message that “unrelenting force” will be used to counter any attack on U.S. interests or those of America’s allies.

“The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or regular Iranian forces,” Bolton said.

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