Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln ends participation in mission near Iran

The U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, which took part in the operation against Iran, is returning to its base in San Diego, California, CNN reports, citing a source.

According to the source, the ship has not yet left the area of responsibility of the U.S. Central Command.

The New York Times, for its part, notes that the aircraft carrier, which has about 5,000 sailors on board, has already been at sea for nine months.

At the same time, the Abraham Lincoln's departure for base does not mean that the United States is reducing its military presence near Iran: the U.S. command has moved the Japan-based aircraft carrier George Washington to the Middle East region, and it has already taken over the functions previously performed by the Abraham Lincoln.

In recent weeks, the Abraham Lincoln has been at the center of attention of the American media: they began publishing reports that sailors were complaining about extremely difficult service conditions. The problems were caused by the fact that the Iranian military managed to disable the American military base in Bahrain, which was used to supply the aircraft carrier. As a result, the subject of the fate of the service members aboard the Abraham Lincoln began to be used by Democratic congressmen to criticize the actions of the Pentagon and, in general, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Source: Interfax