Media: US moves aircraft carrier toward Middle East as tensions with Iran rise

At least one U.S. aircraft carrier is being redeployed toward the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran, U.S. military sources told Fox News.

It remains unclear which carrier is heading to the region. The vessel could be the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that recently departed from Norfolk and San Diego. Transit to the Middle East is expected to take at least a week.

According to sources, additional U.S. military assets from air, land and sea are expected to flow into the region in the coming days and weeks. The deployments are intended to provide the U.S. president with a range of military options should he decide to authorise strikes against Iran. Officials described the process as “setting the force”.

A senior source familiar with the planning said that if military action is approved, it would be “different, more offensive” in nature. U.S. planners are reportedly preparing multiple scenarios, with final decisions dependent on how Iran’s leadership acts in the coming days.

U.S. officials confirmed that approximately 30,000 American troops are currently assigned to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility. At present, there are no U.S. aircraft carriers or carrier strike groups operating in the CENTCOM region.

The current U.S. naval presence there consists of three destroyers and three Littoral Combat Ships. Elsewhere, three U.S. aircraft carriers are deployed: the USS George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan; the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Indo-Pacific Command area; and the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Southern Command region. Two additional carriers near Norfolk and San Diego are not actively deployed.

Missile defence systems are also expected to be sent to the Middle East to strengthen the protection of U.S. bases and Israel, sources said.

By Vugar Khalilov