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Donald Trump said he was dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East that could be used for military strikes against Iran if negotiations fail with Tehran.
The US president confirmed the redeployment on Friday after The New York Times reported that the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier strike group was heading to the Middle East from the Caribbean Sea.
“In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it,” Trump told reporters at the White House before flying to North Carolina to address troops at Fort Bragg, one of the country’s leading military bases. He added that the second aircraft carrier would be “leaving very soon”.
In January, Trump sent the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group from the South China Sea to the Middle East as tensions with Iran rose over the regime’s brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protesters.
The US already has 10 ships in the region, including the Abraham Lincoln. The Gerald R Ford is the US’s largest and newest aircraft carrier and its strike group includes three destroyers, thousands of troops and dozens of aircraft.
Washington had two aircraft carrier strike groups positioned in the region when it struck three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last June.
The US has also shifted more missile defences, along with additional fighter jets, to the Middle East as part of its military build-up.
But the White House is also holding negotiations with senior Iranian officials to try to find a resolution to their disputes over Tehran’s nuclear programme and its support for regional proxy groups in the Middle East.
The Gerald R Ford has been in the Caribbean region since last summer as Trump waged his military campaign against alleged drug boats off the coasts of Latin America and raided the Venezuelan capital of Caracas to capture its revolutionary socialist strongman leader Nicolás Maduro.
US Southern Command, which oversees American operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said that its ability to act in the region would not be diminished as a result of the Gerald R Ford’s redeployment.
“While force posture evolves, our operational capability does not. Southcom forces remain fully ready to project power, defend themselves and protect US interests in the region,” it said, adding that it would “continue mission-focused operations to counter illicit activities and malign actors in the Western Hemisphere”.
US Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, and the Pentagon, declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment.
Trump’s decision to send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East came after he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for talks on Iran this week.
Speaking before he flew back from Washington, Netanyahu said he had told Trump he was sceptical “regarding the nature of any agreement with Iran”, and added that, if a deal were reached, it must cover not only Iran’s nuclear programme but “also the ballistic missiles and the Iranian proxies”.
Trump said he had “insisted” that the negotiations with Tehran needed to continue despite Israel’s reservations.
“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated. If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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