USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier
The deployment was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Reuters. A US official told Reuters that the redeployment is underway, with the carrier expected to take at least a week to reach the region.
A person familiar with the plans told the Associated Press that the Ford, the US Navy’s newest and largest carrier, will bolster the Lincoln and its accompanying warships, expanding US military options. Separately, a senior administration official and three sources familiar with the matter told CNN that the Pentagon’s decision reflects continued pressure on Tehran, even as President Donald Trump has said negotiations with Iran will continue.
The Ford and its escort ships have been operating in the Caribbean for months and are expected to remain deployed until late April or early May. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January with guided-missile destroyers, fighter jets, and surveillance aircraft. The United States last had two carriers in the broader region during strikes on Iranian nuclear sites last year.
Trump said earlier this week he was considering a second carrier deployment if no agreement is reached with Tehran, and on Thursday reiterated hopes for a deal “over the next month.” “They want to make a deal, as they should want to make a deal,” Trump said last week. “They know the consequences if they don’t. If they don’t make a deal, the consequences are very steep. So we’ll see what happens.”
Earlier this month, delegations from the US and Iran met in Oman for the first round of negotiations since the US and Israel struck Iranian sites last summer. The talks, led by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, were described as “positive,” with plans to continue discussions after consultations in their capitals.
On Wednesday in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his seventh meeting with Trump since the president returned to office. The visit, more muted than usual and closed to the press, appeared aimed at influencing or derailing the next round of US-Iran talks.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the White House held the meeting behind closed doors to avoid exposing disagreements over a potential agreement with Iran.
Israeli officials told the newspaper that Netanyahu was concerned about increasing pressure from regional powers—including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar—as well as interventions by US envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are working to prevent a military strike on Tehran.
Tel Aviv has repeatedly pushed the US to attack Iran again after it did so during the Israeli 12-day war against the country last summer.
Iran has warned ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington that Israel’s interference could be “destructive” to the diplomatic process.
“Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.
“The Zionist regime has repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region that leads to peace,” added Baqaei.
It is worth noting that Israel is the only nuclear power in the region and has refused to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for decades.
Efforts against war
The mounting US threats against Iran come as regional powers continue efforts to avert escalation.
Egypt has been pushing for the resumption of US-Iran talks in Muscat, stressing that “there is no military solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.”
Since June 2025, Egypt has spearheaded mediation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enable the resumption of inspections of Iran's civilian nuclear program. These efforts culminated in the signing of the Cairo Agreement in September 2025, which allowed IAEA inspections to resume.
“The only effective path is through dialogue and negotiation that meets the interests of all the parties,” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said after the first round of talks in Oman last Friday.
Last week, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held consultations with senior officials from Iran, the US, Qatar, Turkey, and Oman to explore diplomatic avenues for de-escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran.
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