“…we are not in the habit of repeating a warning and we warn only once.”-Ataollah Salehi, Major General Iranian Army, 03 January 2012

There will soon be four U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf.  The USS Enterprise, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the USS Abraham Lincoln will soon be joined by the USS John C Stennis.

The announcement was made on 16 July 2012, by the U.S. Department of Defense. The Pentagon also said the deployment of the USS Stennis, in August, will be four months ahead of schedule, and it will be for longer than originally planned.

The United States has also increased the number of other combat ships in the area. But here’s the thing, back in January 2012, Iranian officials singled out the USS Stennis, threatening military action against that specific aircraft carrier if it ever returned to the Persian Gulf.

Back in April 2012, USN Commander Amy Derrick-Frost, of the 5th Fleet,  said it was unusual to have two U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf at the same time, now there’s going to be four!

Is the U.S. move a deliberate provocation in order to start a full blown World War 3?