On 5 May, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton announced that the U.S. was deploying the Carrier Strike Group and four B-52 bombers to the Middle East to "send a clear and unmistakable message" to Iran following Israeli intelligence reports of an alleged Iranian plot to attack U.S. forces in the region. Bolton said, "The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack." The deployed USS "Abraham Lincoln" is in the Arabian Sea, outside the Persian Gulf.