US Deploys New Aircraft Carrier and 10,000 More Troops to Mideast

Donald Trump is weighing the possibility of launching further strikes against Iran as the Pentagon prepares to deploy roughly 10,000 additional troops aboard a naval force heading to the Middle East.

The deployment, which includes a third aircraft carrier, highlights the rapidly shifting nature of Trump’s conflict with Iran. The president is considering his next steps as the US midterm elections approach and indications emerge that the war may be taking on a more complicated dimension.

The ships traveling toward the Middle East carry more than 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines in total.

The force includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which recently set sail with the cruiser USS Chosin. It also features the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group, made up of the amphibious landing ships USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage.

A US official said the move could place three aircraft carriers in the region by the end of October. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the military operations remain sensitive.

Combined with forces already stationed in the Middle East, the deployment would raise the American naval presence to more than 20,000 sailors and Marines, supported by hundreds of aircraft.

The US Navy last had three carrier strike groups operating in the Middle East in April, marking the first such deployment since 2003.

The USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington are currently in the region, alongside the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group.

Additional US strikes on Iran remain possible, particularly after Trump said Thursday that preliminary indications pointed to an Iranian connection to the FlyDubai co-pilot accused of stabbing his captain and attempting to crash an Israel-bound flight on Wednesday.

“We’re working on it right now and being very open with us,” Trump said.

Asked whether the co-pilot had ties to Iran or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Trump replied: “I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes. But we’re working on it right now.”

Trump warned that the United States would punish Iran if investigators confirmed that the co-pilot had links to the regime or that Tehran had supported the attack.

“They’ll be hit very hard,” he said, issuing a five-word warning. “Don’t worry.”

Trump reiterated that Washington would retaliate if a connection between the suspect and Iran were established.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Fox News interview Thursday that investigators believed the FlyDubai suspect had undergone “Islamist, radical indoctrination,” though he offered no additional details.

“Oh, they’ll be hit very hard, don’t worry,” Trump said. “You just ask them. They know what happened. They’ll be hit very hard.”

The USS George Washington is normally assigned to the Pacific Ocean, but it was shifted to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln after that carrier’s crew spent more than 260 consecutive days at sea during an arduous deployment.

Trump, in a Time magazine interview published Thursday, also raised the prospects of new strikes, saying it is ‘possible’ that he will ramp up bombing in Iran after the November 3 elections in the United States.

When pressed, Trump said he could not go into further detail about his strategy.

‘I can´t tell you that because look, you know, you´re asking, where are you going to bomb?’ Trump said.

He said in the interview, conducted Monday, that he rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Iran because ‘things that I wouldn´t have approved a year ago I wouldn’t have today.’

Trump cited as an example an offer from Iran to ‘open up’ the Strait of Hormuz, the key energy shipping corridor, but said the overall proposal was ‘not good enough.’

Asked if the increasingly unpopular war would threaten Republican Party chances in November, Trump at first responded, ‘It´s possible.’ 

But then he added, ‘It 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 worldwide.’

‘So, when you say it that way, it would help,’ Trump added. ‘If you don´t say that, it could hurt.’

Yet, there’s also growing concern that Tehran might be turning to asymmetrical tactics following the FlyDubai attack and another suspicious incident in the UK.

Authorities believe that Iran might be looking to shift strategy just as the US finds greater success in loosening Iran´s grip over the Strait of Hormuz and getting Gulf allies’ oil to market, while a Navy blockade is shutting down Iran´s own oil exports.

British authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at a US-run military air base in England that British authorities have linked to Tehran.

The arrest of the 27-year-old man in Central London came after UK authorities arrested five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, in the early hours of Sunday on suspicion of explosives and terror offenses close to the RAF Fairford air base

The base has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have since been released on bail.

The flight plunged more than 14,000ft in less than 30 seconds during the incident as it flew over Saudi Arabia on the journey from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Despite the scare, all passengers remained safe during the incident. 

However, both the co-pilot and captain were hospitalized, according to Tabuk airport officials. The flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after passengers subdued the co-pilot. 

Trump praised Boeing and its CEO Kelly Ortberg in a social media post Thursday morning for the design of the 737 MAX and its ability to withstand extreme conditions as it rapidly descended before stabilizing.