The Ford’s arrival, first reported by The New York Times, will place two carrier strike groups and their accompanying warships in the region, joining the USS Abraham Lincoln and its guided-missile destroyers currently operating in the Arabian Sea. Gulf Arab nations have warned that any attack could spark another regional conflict in a Middle East still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, while Iran faces mounting internal pressure as families begin holding traditional 40-day mourning ceremonies for those killed in last month’s crackdown on nationwide protests.
The move marks a swift redeployment for the Ford, which Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the administration built up forces ahead of a surprise raid that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The deployment appears to contrast with Trump’s national security strategy emphasizing the Western Hemisphere, and it could extend the crew’s mission beyond eight months since the ship set out in late June 2025.
Trump on Thursday warned that failure to reach a nuclear deal would be “very traumatic,” and said of the timeline for an agreement, “I guess over the next month, something like that,” adding, “It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly.” After lengthy talks Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has urged Washington to press Tehran on its ballistic missile program and support for groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Trump told Axios he was considering sending a second carrier strike group to the region, while the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At home, Iran faces simmering anger over its broad suppression of dissent, with online videos showing mourners gathering across the country holding portraits of the dead, including footage purportedly from a cemetery in Razavi Khorasan province near Mashhad. In one video, mourners sang the patriotic song “Ey Iran,” chanting, “Oh Iran, a land of full of jewels, your soil is full of art,” and “May evil wishes be far from you. May you live eternal. Oh enemy, if you are a piece of granite, I am iron.”
Source: AP.
