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The Pentagon is preparing to send a third aircraft carrier strike group and additional Marine Corps ships to the Middle East, potentially adding 9,000 to 10,000 troops as President Donald Trump weighs whether to resume strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
Officials told the newspaper that the ships, fighter jets, Marines and sailors are expected to arrive by the end of November.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego on Sunday for a scheduled deployment, while the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, carrying Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, departed on Monday.
How many US carrier groups could be in the region?
The USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington are already in the Middle East. If the Washington group remains in the region when the Roosevelt arrives, the United States would have three carrier strike groups there for the first time since April, before a fragile US-Iran ceasefire ended fighting that began on February 28.
The latest deployment would add to more than 50,000 US troops already in the region. However, the USS George Washington could return to its home port in Japan, which would leave two carrier groups in the area.
Why is the US increasing its forces?
The deployments come after Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal for a seven-day ceasefire. In an interview published Thursday by Time magazine, he said the United States could resume strikes on Iran after the midterms if no agreement is reached.
Iran’s proposal called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a route normally carrying about one-fifth of global oil supplies, and resuming negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also extended the deployments of air-defence units and the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. The United States has kept about 20 Navy ships in the region to enforce the blockade and help escort commercial vessels through the strait.
The buildup comes as the US Navy faces supply shortages and near-record deployment demands. Iran has recently fired ballistic missiles at US warships, while senior Navy officials have prepared the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt for an extended deployment.
