The Pentagon is sending the Navy’s largest and most advanced aircraft carrier to the Middle East as the United States plans a possible attack on Iran, two U.S. officials said.
The USS Gerald R. Ford was spotted in the North Sea in September.The USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group is deploying to the region after spending several months in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. It will join the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and nine other warships already operating in the Middle East.
The move comes as pressure mounts for President Trump to make concessions on Iran’s nuclear program. US and Iranian officials held the first round of talks last week, and Trump has indicated he is open to a deal with Tehran to end military action.
“They want to make a deal, like they should make a deal,” Trump told reporters last week. “They know the consequences if they don’t. If they don’t make a deal, the consequences are very difficult. So we’ll see what happens.”
Ford’s deployment, previously reported by the New York Times, marks another major mission for the carrier and its crew, who have been away from home for more than 200 days. The ship was rerouted from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean in October to support US operations to seize oil tankers and capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
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The carrier’s new orders also mark a renewed US focus on the Middle East following the Trump administration’s pivot to the Western Hemisphere. When Ford was sent to the Caribbean in the fall, it marked the first time in decades that US Central Command, home to US forces in the Middle East, or US European Command did not have a carrier.
Navy officials have expressed concern that expanding to another deployment could strain sailors, but the carrier has a strong track record and can support additional combat operations if needed, they said.
Ford will bring dozens more jet fighters and surveillance aircraft to the region and enable commanders to conduct airstrikes at a higher rate.
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Write to Shelby Holliday at shelby.holliday@wsj.com