A second US aircraft carrier is reportedly heading to West Asia amid rising tensions with Iran.

The United States will send the world’s largest aircraft carrier to West Asia to back up another already there, a person familiar with the plans said on Friday (Feb 13, 2026), putting more American firepower behind it. President Donald Trump’s Efforts to force a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

The USS Gerald R. Ford’s planned deployment to West Asia comes after Mr. Trump signaled another round of talks with the Iranians just days ago. Those talks failed to materialize as one of Tehran’s top security officials visited Oman and Qatar this week to exchange messages with US mediators.

Arab countries on regional conflict

Gulf Arab states have already warned that any attack could turn into another regional conflict in West Asia, which is still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iranians have begun 40 days of mourning for the thousands killed in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, adding to internal pressures facing the sanctions-battered Islamic republic.

Ford’s assignment, first reported The New York Timeswill station two carriers and their accompanying warships in the area. Already, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers are in the Arabian Sea.

The person who spoke Associated Press He did so on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements on deployment.

It marks a rapid turnaround for Ford, which Mr Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the regime built up a massive military presence on the eve of a surprise attack that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month.

Trump warns Iran

This appears to be at odds with Mr Trump’s national security strategy, which emphasizes the Western Hemisphere over the rest of the world.

Mr Trump warned Iran on Thursday that failure to reach a deal with his administration would be “very shocking”. Last week, Iran and the US held indirect talks in Oman.

“I would imagine in the next month, something like that,” Mr Trump said in response to a question about his timeline for reaching a deal with Iran over its nuclear program. “It has to happen quickly, they have to agree quickly.”

Mr. Trump said Axios Earlier this week they were considering sending a second carrier strike group to West Asia.

Mr. Trump had a lengthy conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Wednesday and urged Israel’s leader that he needs to continue negotiations with Iran. Mr. Netanyahu is pushing the regime.

The USS Ford began deployment in late June 2025, meaning the crew will be deployed for eight months in two weeks. While it is unclear how long the ship will remain in West Asia, the move sets the crew up for a generally longer deployment.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iran still faces simmering anger at home over the widespread suppression of all dissent in the Islamic Republic. That anger may intensify in the coming days as families of the dead begin to mark the traditional 40 days of mourning for loved ones. Already, online videos have shown mourners holding portraits of their dead in different parts of the country.

A video purported to show mourners at a cemetery in Iran’s Razavi Khorasan province on Thursday, which is Mashhad’s home. There, with a large portable speaker, people sang the patriotic song “Ai Iran,” which dates back to the 1940s reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran. While initially banned after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s theocratic government has played it to drum up support.

“O Iran, land of jewels, your soil is full of art,” he sang. “May evil desires depart from you, may you live forever, O enemy, if you are a piece of granite, I am iron.”