US President Donald Trump appears set to send a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, ahead of possible military action in Iran, as he warns that any failure in nuclear deal talks would be “very traumatic” for Tehran.
A source familiar with the US Navy’s planning told The National on Thursday that the USS Gerald R Ford is planning to sail to the region. The vessel is the world's largest aircraft carrier. In November, it was sent to the Caribbean before the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Experts have long said a second strike group could be sent to the region, where the USS Abraham Lincoln is already posted, if the US is to launch a sustained campaign against Tehran.
Mr Trump on Thursday posted on Truth Social a story from The Wall Street Journal that said the Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to sail to the Middle East. One of the three US officials quoted in the article said the order could come within hours.
A US Navy representative said the service “doesn't speak to future naval operations” and Central Command referred a query to the White House, which did not immediately comment.
The potential deployment of a second carrier comes after Washington and Tehran last week held talks on Iran's nuclear programme. Mr Trump on Thursday said that if Iran did not make a deal, it would be “very traumatic” for the country.
“If the deal isn't a very fair deal and a very good deal with Iran then it's going to be, I think, a very difficult time for them,” Mr Trump said at the White House.
Last month, the Pentagon sent the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier from the Indo-Pacific to the Gulf as the Iranian government launched a brutal crackdown on citizens who had taken to the streets to protest against worsening economic conditions.
Thousands were killed and on January 13, Mr Trump told Iranians to keep protesting and to take over their country's institutions, promising them that “help is on its way”.
In the month since, the US has been engaged with Tehran over its nuclear programme and Mr Trump claims to still favour a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. But he might be using talks as cover to buy time while the Pentagon posts warships, planes and missile defence units across the Middle East.
On June 19, he said he would decide “in the next two weeks” whether to strike Iran amid Israel's air war with the country. It now appears he had already made the decision to attack, as just three days later US bombers struck three nuclear sites across Iran in Operation Midnight Hammer.
The presence of two carrier strike groups would be a major concentration of US firepower and naval air capabilities.
Jim Hanson, chief strategist at the Middle East Forum, said the US does not necessarily need a second strike group in the region to launch military action against Iran, noting that Operation Midnight Hammer was conducted with US-based bombers and submarine-launched missiles.
“I don't believe [a second strike group is] needed to conduct a meaningful strike or to be prepared for any retaliation,” Mr Hanson said. He added Mr Trump's suggestions on the issue could be a feint and that another carrier might not be “the final piece needed”.
Mr Hanson said he believes the President does not necessarily want to launch a regime change operation in Iran but may be willing to strike military targets.
“His goal is to remove the threat to the United States, but there will come a point where that threat and the continued existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not compatible, and I think that is rapidly approaching,” he said.
