Pentagon ready to deploy 2nd aircraft carrier to Middle East: report

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is ready to deploy the second aircraft carrier in the Middle East in two weeks amid heightened US-Iran tensions, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The carrier is likely from the US East Coast, the report quoted US officials as saying, noting the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush is completing a series of training exercises off the coast of Virginia, and it could potentially expedite those exercises.

However, US President Donald Trump hasn't yet given an official order for the deployment and that plan could change, said the report.

If the order is issued, the second carrier would join aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln that is already in the region, marking the first time there are two carriers in the region since March 2025 when the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS Carl Vinson were both in the Middle East to battle Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Tehran and Washington held indirect talks on Friday in the Omani capital Muscat amid simmering tensions between the two sides following Washington's military buildup near Iran. The negotiations were their first since the United States bombed key Iranian nuclear sites in June last year.

Trump said on Tuesday that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East for possible military actions against Iran if negotiations failed.