Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles has ordered the temporary withdrawal of the country's frigate Mendez Nunez F-104 with 215 sailors on board from the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that was sent to the Persian Gulf amid growing tension between the United States and Iran, media reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2019) Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles has ordered the temporary withdrawal of the country's frigate Mendez Nunez F-104 with 215 sailors on board from the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that was sent to the Persian Gulf amid growing tension between the United States and Iran, media reported.
According to El Pais, the integration of the Spanish frigate into the US naval combat group, which does not contain any other foreign warships, was planned at least one year ago, with the aim to hold joint training and improve interoperability. The mission of the Spanish frigate as part of the US combat group was expected to last for six months � from late April to late October.
The decision of Robles prescribes that Mendez Nunez will not enter the Persian Gulf, but the warship may rejoin the US naval group once the previously agreed program is resumed.
US National Security Adviser John Bolton said earlier in May that the United States was deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force near Iran, to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) region, as "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force."
Tensions have been running high between Iran and the United States since last May, when US President Donald Trump, a long-time critic of the historic Iran nuclear deal, pulled out of the agreement. In less than a year, Washington unveiled several rounds of sanctions against the Islamic republic, targeting the country's finance, transport, military and other spheres.
Tehran informed last week the ambassadors of China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom of its decision to suspend some of its obligations under the nuclear deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that he gave European countries 60 days to ensure that Iran's interests were protected under the agreement.
