US sends second carrier to Gulf as pressure on Iran intensifies

The U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and its escort vessels, currently operating in the Caribbean, have been ordered to redeploy to the Middle East and are unlikely to return to their home ports until late April or early May, The New York Times reports, citing multiple U.S. defence officials.

The carrier’s crew was informed of the decision on February 12, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the deployment publicly.

Under the new orders, the Ford strike group will link up with the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf. The move is part of an intensified pressure campaign by the Trump administration against Iran’s leadership. Earlier this week, President Trump publicly signalled plans to send a second carrier to the region, but neither he nor the Navy had confirmed which vessel would be dispatched.

The Ford’s current mission began on June 24, when it departed Norfolk, Virginia, on what was initially billed as a European cruise. That plan was rapidly changed amid rising tensions in the Western Hemisphere, and the carrier was rerouted to the Caribbean to support U.S. pressure on Venezuela.

In January, aircraft from the Ford took part in operations around Caracas that culminated in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, marking one of the most high-profile actions of the deployment.

Sailors in the strike group had been preparing for a return home in early March after an earlier extension of the Ford’s deployment. The latest extension, however, will delay planned maintenance and upgrades. The carrier was scheduled to enter a dry-dock period in Virginia for major repairs, a timetable now jeopardised by the unexpected redeployment.

By Vugar Khalilov