# The Abraham Lincoln off Oman > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The Abraham Lincoln off Oman," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-abraham-lincoln-off-oman/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The carrier battle group John Kiriakou placed in the Arabian Sea off Oman in January 2026, and the reason he said he genuinely feared the coming weeks: a belief in Washington and Jerusalem that the Iranian government needed only a gentle shove to collapse, against 150,000 members of the Revolutionary Guard who would not oblige.* - **The asset:** The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group - **Position:** The Arabian Sea, off the coast of Oman - **Date of the assessment:** 26 January 2026 - **The belief he attributes:** That Iran needs only "a gentle shove to collapse upon itself" - **His counter-figure:** 150,000 members of the IRGC - **Predicted effect of an attack:** Iranians united against the attackers, not against their government **The Abraham Lincoln off Oman** refers to the American carrier battle group [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) located in the Arabian Sea on 26 January 2026, and to the assessment he attached to it. Asked for an update on [Iran](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-regional-war-2026), he began with the disposition and then with an admission of fear. ## The disposition *"The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group is in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman. I genuinely fear what's going to happen in the coming weeks. I really do."*[1] He framed the timing as convenient for the administration on two counts — a distraction from the killing in Minneapolis, and from the Epstein files, *"which everybody forgot existed."* His view of that convenience was not that it was incidental: *"and that was the plan."*[2] ## The assumption he rejects The substantive part of the assessment concerns what he believes Washington and Jerusalem expect to happen. *"I think that the Israelis and the Americans genuinely smell blood in the water, and they believe — rightly or wrongly — that all the Iranian government needs is a gentle shove to collapse upon itself. That's not going to be the case."*[2] His reason is institutional rather than sentimental. *"There are 150,000 members of the IRGC, the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps. They are the backbone of Iranian national security."*[3] ## What he expects instead Kiriakou's prediction is that an attack produces the opposite of the intended political effect. *"If the Israelis and the Americans think that once they give Iran this little shove that people are going to rise up and overthrow the regime — that is not real life. We're going to be seen as invaders and attackers, and it's going to unite Iranians against us, and unite them against their Israeli attackers."*[3] His closing line on the subject was four words: *"Nothing good's going to come of this."* Pressed again later in the same programme by a viewer asking about the drumbeat to war, he did not expand the argument, only repeated the feeling behind it — *"I'm genuinely worried. I really am."*[3][4] The reasoning is the same one he has applied to Iraq and to Venezuela: that bombing a population does not turn it against its own government, and that the belief it will is the single most durable error in American planning. ## See also - [Iran regional war (2026)](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-regional-war-2026) - ["Iran posed no threat"](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iran-posed-no-threat) - [Iranian intelligence capability](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/iranian-intelligence-capability) - [MBS and Netanyahu asked Trump to attack Iran](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/mbs-and-netanyahu-asked-trump-to-attack-iran) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-01-26), at 48:27. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw_Ta_maSFs&t=2907s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-26-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-01-26), at 48:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw_Ta_maSFs&t=2939s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-26-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-01-26), at 49:31. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw_Ta_maSFs&t=2971s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-26-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2026-01-26), at 53:43. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw_Ta_maSFs&t=3223s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-01-26-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-abraham-lincoln-off-oman/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt