Washington, DC: The United States will send the world’s largest aircraft carrier to West Asia to back up another already there, a person familiar with the plans said on Friday, putting more American firepower behind President Donald Trump’s attempts to pressure Iran into a deal over its nuclear programme, reports said.
The report said the planned deployment of USS Gerald R Ford to West Asia comes after Trump had, only days earlier, suggested another round of discussion with the Iranians was at hand. Those talks didn’t materialise as one of Tehran’s top security officials visited Oman and Qatar earlier this week and exchanged messages with the U S intermediaries.
Already, Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict in a West Asia still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Iranians are beginning to hold 40-day mourning ceremonies for the thousands killed in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, adding to the internal pressure faced by the Islamic Republic, the report said.
The Ford’s deployment, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region. Already, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers are in the Arabian Sea.
The report said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on the deployment did so on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements.
It marks a quick turnaround for the Ford, which Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as Washington build up a huge military presence in the lead-up to the surprise raid last month that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump on Thursday warned Iran that failure to reach a deal with his administration would be “very traumatic.” Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman last week.
“I guess over the next month, something like that,” Trump said in response to a question about his timeline for striking a deal with Iran on its nuclear programme. “It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly.”
