US moves aircraft carrier toward Middle East amid Iran crisis. Photos: X.
The Iran crisis is far from over. After a brief lull, giving hints that Donald Trump might have decided not to attack Tehran, new reports emerged about the US moving its military assets towards the Middle East. According to a Fox News report, at least one US aircraft carrier is being moved.
It remains unclear which carrier is heading to the region. Fox News quoted officials saying it could be the USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed from Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week. Transit time to the Middle East is expected to take at least a week.
According to reports, additional assets from air, land, and sea are expected to flow into the region in the coming days and weeks. The buildup is aimed at providing the president with a full range of military options should he decide to authorize strikes against Iran.
Reports describe the deployment process as “setting the force,” a term used to describe the strategic positioning of military capabilities ahead of possible operations.
The reports said that if military action is approved, it would represent a shift in posture. “This will be different, more offensive,” Fox News reported, quoting the sources, adding that US military planners are preparing multiple response scenarios depending on how Iran’s leadership behaves in the coming days.
According to the reports, the additional equipment and thousands of troops are expected to arrive over the coming days and weeks.
According to reports, there are currently about 30,000 American troops assigned to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) region. As of now, no U.S. aircraft carriers or carrier strike groups are operating within the CENTCOM area.
The current US naval presence in the region consists of three destroyers and three Littoral Combat Ships.
Elsewhere, three US aircraft carriers are already deployed: the USS George Washington is stationed in Yokosuka, Japan; the USS Abraham Lincoln is operating in the Indo-Pacific Command area; and the USS Gerald R. Ford is deployed in the Southern Command region. Two additional carriers near Norfolk and San Diego are not actively deployed.
Iran appeared to signal a partial de-escalation on Thursday, reopening its airspace and indicating it would not move forward with executing protesters. The move came as President Trump declined to clarify whether the United States would take military action over Iran’s deadly crackdown on dissent.
The United States began evacuating key personnel from its largest military base in the Middle East on Wednesday as concerns about a potential American strike grew. Activist groups have claimed that the death toll from Iran’s crackdown has surpassed 2,500.
President Trump on Thursday suggested his warnings had already had an impact.
“We saved a lot of lives yesterday,” he said—an apparent reference to his assertion that Iranian authorities had stopped killing protesters and halted some planned executions.
However, Trump declined to confirm whether he had made a final decision on military action, saying, “I’m not going to tell you that.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the situation during Thursday’s daily briefing, stating that the administration believes a significant number of executions had been halted.
“The president understands 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted,” Leavitt said, though she did not specify the source of that figure.
She added that Trump had delivered a direct warning to Tehran. “If the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” Leavitt said, emphasizing that “all options remain on the table.”
Also Read: Did Trump’s Warning Force Iran To Halt 800 Protester Executions? White House Makes Big Claim
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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