U.S. Central Command has confirmed that the United States is sending B-52s to the Middle East, where they will join a carrier strike group following an announcement from national security adviser John Bolton.

“We continue to closely monitor the activities of the regime in Iran, their military, the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps], and their proxies, and we are well postured to defend U.S. forces and interests,” Central Command, or Centcom, spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said in a Pentagon statement, The Hill reports.

“The deployment of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force are considered prudent steps to protect U.S. forces and interests in the region and to deter any aggression.”

Bolton said on Sunday that the USS Lincoln strike group and the bomber task force are being deployed “to send 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,” and alluded to “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran.

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