The Pentagon is sending a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs fresh strikes against Iran. The USS Theodore Roosevelt departed San Diego on Sunday, potentially bringing up to 10,000 additional US service members to a region where the war with Iran is now in its eighth month.
The buildup
The Roosevelt — a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered carrier — carries about 5,000 sailors and Marines, with thousands more aboard its escort vessels. A day later, the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group set sail carrying the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit: roughly 2,200 Marines and 2,000 sailors. The Roosevelt is expected to arrive by the end of November and may relieve the USS George Washington, while the USS George H.W. Bush remains in the Arabian Sea. Together, the deployment would take the US naval presence to more than 20,000 sailors and Marines, plus the USS Boxer group near the Strait of Hormuz.
Why now
The move comes as Trump rejected Iran's proposed seven-day ceasefire last week, under which Tehran offered to open the Strait of Hormuz. US officials say American forces are already moving oil through the waterway. Control of Hormuz — a crucial artery for global energy supplies — remains the key point of deadlock in indirect talks held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Trump has said increased strikes are "possible" after the November 3 midterm elections, and told the UN that Iran must "sign a very fair deal, or they won't exist any longer." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded: "We never shied away from talks, and we never will."
Strain of a long war
The Pentagon stocked the Roosevelt for a potentially long deployment — extra food, hygiene supplies, and even entertainment equipment — after reports of deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended deployment. The Navy's acting secretary disclosed that eight service members in the Lincoln's strike group had attempted to take their own lives.
The takeaway: three carrier strike groups in one theater is the largest US naval buildup in the Middle East since April — a signal that diplomacy and escalation are both still on the table.
Watch: The USS Theodore Roosevelt just quietly deployed to the Middle East
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Sources: Al Jazeera, The National, The Jerusalem Post