US sends third aircraft carrier to Middle East as Iran war stalls | US-Israeli war against Iran

The US military is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump warned that new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.

The deployment, which includes a specialized amphibious strike group, underscores the rapidly changing dynamics of Trump’s war against Iran as the U.S. midterm elections approach.

Trump has threatened that an escalation after the midterm elections remains a viable option – despite his initial promises that the war would last only a few weeks.

The group of ships currently en route to the Middle East together carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines. It includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Readiness Group, with its two amphibious landing ships.

That could mean three aircraft carriers would be in the region as early as late October, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

Given the personnel already in place in the Middle East, the move would increase the U.S. naval presence to an unusually high number of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines as well as hundreds of aircraft. The Navy previously had three carrier strike groups in the Middle East in April, for the first time since 2003.

The aircraft carriers USS George HW Bush and USS George Washington are now in the region, along with the USS Boxer Amphibious Readiness Group.

The Washington is usually deployed to the Pacific Ocean, but it was moved to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose arduous deployment required the crew to remain at sea for more than 260 consecutive days.

It is possible that the Washington could move to the seas off Japan once the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group arrives.

In an interview with Time magazine published Thursday, Trump raised the prospect of further strikes, saying it was “possible” he would step up bombing in Iran after the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

When asked, Trump said he could not provide further details about his strategy.

“I can’t tell you that because look, you know, you ask, where are you going to bomb?” » Trump said.

He said in Monday’s interview that he rejected Iran’s latest ceasefire proposal because “things I wouldn’t have approved of a year ago, I wouldn’t have today.”

Trump cited as an example an offer by Iran to “open” the Strait of Hormuz, the main energy transportation corridor, but said the overall proposal was “not good enough.”

Asked whether the increasingly unpopular war would threaten the Republican Party’s chances in November, Trump initially replied: “It’s possible.” But then he added: “That should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.” »

The president said “100 percent of the people” oppose Iran having nuclear attack capabilities “including around the world.”

“So when you put it that way, it would help,” Trump added. “If you don’t say that, it might hurt.”