Overview
- U.S. Central Command confirmed the deployment, saying it aims to promote regional security and stability.
- The carrier and accompanying guided-missile destroyers are operating in the Indian Ocean rather than the Arabian Sea adjacent to Iran.
- The Pentagon is reinforcing the theater with an F-15E Strike Eagle squadron, added air-defense systems, and dozens of U.S. military cargo flights moving equipment.
- President Trump said a large fleet is headed toward the region and stated he hopes it will not need to be used while keeping all options open.
- Tensions linked to Iran’s protest crackdown—reported by a U.S.-based rights group to have left nearly 6,000 dead—persist as Tehran warns any attack would mean “total war” and the UAE refuses its airspace or territory for hostile action.