{"id":226285,"date":"2026-10-02T07:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-sends-third-aircraft-carrier-to-middle-east-amid-stalemate-in-iran-war-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T07:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T07:14:20","slug":"us-sends-third-aircraft-carrier-to-middle-east-amid-stalemate-in-iran-war-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-sends-third-aircraft-carrier-to-middle-east-amid-stalemate-in-iran-war-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US sends third aircraft carrier to Middle East amid stalemate in Iran war – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deployment underscores evolving complexity of Trump\u2019s war against Iran as US midterm elections loom
The US military is dispatching a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump<\/a> warned new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.
The deployment, which includes a specialist amphibious attack group, underscores the rapidly evolving dynamic of Trump\u2019s war<\/a> against Iran as midterm elections in the US loom large.
Trump has threatened that a post-midterm election escalation remains a viable option \u2013 despite his initial promises that the war would last a matter of weeks.
The group of ships now 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.
It could mean that three carriers are in the region as early as the end of October, according to a US 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 bring the US 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 carriers USS George HW Bush and the USS George Washington are in the region now, along with the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group.
The Washington is typically deployed to the Pacific Ocean, but it was moved to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln, whose arduous deployment resulted in the crew being at sea for more than 260 days straight<\/a>.
It is possible the Washington could move to seas off Japan, once the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group arrives.
In a Time magazine interview published on Thursday, Trump raised the prospects of new strikes, saying it is \u201cpossible\u201d that he will ramp up bombing in Iran<\/a> after the 3 November midterm elections.
When pressed, Trump said he could not go into further detail about his strategy.
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you that because look, you know, you\u2019re asking, where are you going to bomb?\u201d Trump said.
He said in the interview, conducted Monday, that he rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Iran because \u201cthings that I wouldn\u2019t have approved a year ago I wouldn\u2019t have today.\u201d
Trump cited as an example an offer from Iran to \u201copen up\u201d the strait of Hormuz<\/a>, the key energy shipping corridor, but said the overall proposal was \u201cnot good enough\u201d<\/a>.
Asked if the increasingly unpopular war would threaten Republican party chances in November, Trump at first responded: \u201cIt\u2019s possible.\u201d But then he added, \u201cIt should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.\u201d
The president said \u201c100% of the people\u201d oppose Iran having nuclear attack capabilities \u201cincluding worldwide\u201d.
\u201cSo, when you say it that way, it would help,\u201d Trump added. \u201cIf you don\u2019t say that, it could hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deployment underscores evolving complexity of Trump\u2019s war against Iran as US midterm elections loomThe US military is dispatching a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump warned new strikes against Iran could be on the horizon.The deployment, which includes a specialist amphibious attack group, underscores the rapidly evolving dynamic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":226286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}