US sending aircraft carrier to Middle East, new conflict looms

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.

There are currently no US aircraft carriers deployed in the Middle East or Europe. Washington had withdrawn its surveillance from the Middle East as part of the Donald Trump administration's pressure strategy against Venezuela. However, the ongoing protests in Iran and renewed tensions between the US and Iran have created the possibility of the two countries getting involved in a conflict.

In continuation of this, the US Department of Defense Pentagon has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group to sail from the South China Sea to the Middle East, according to the US cable news network News Nation. It is believed that this move may strengthen the US military presence in the Middle East again.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump decided in October to send the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier group from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, so there is currently no US carrier strike group in a position to take part in a potential strike against Iran.

Such warships have played a key role in past tensions with Tehran. The report quoted a US Navy official as saying that the US currently has 12 warships deployed in the Caribbean, while only six are in the Middle East.

Source: Al Jazeera