Second U.S. aircraft carrier reportedly heading to West Asia as Iran tensions run high
The Hindu
The U.S. deploys a second aircraft carrier to West Asia amid rising tensions with Iran and ongoing nuclear negotiations.
The United States will send the world's largest aircraft carrier to the West Asia to back up another already there, a person familiar with the plans said on Friday (February 13, 2026), putting more American firepower behind President Donald Trump's efforts to coerce Iran into a deal over its nuclear program.
The USS Gerald R. Ford's planned deployment to the West Asia comes after Mr. Trump only days earlier suggested another round of talks with the Iranians was at hand. Those negotiations didn't materialise as one of Tehran's top security officials visited Oman and Qatar 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 sanctions-battered Islamic Republic.
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 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 Mr. Trump sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the administration build up a huge military presence in the lead-up to the surprise raid last month that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
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