Ford Strike Group Heads to Mideast During Iran Talks

President Trump is doubling down on a show of US naval power in the Middle East as he pushes for a fast-track deal with Iran over its nuclear program. The Pentagon will deploy the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group to the Gulf region, officials confirmed, adding a second American carrier alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Ford, currently in the Caribbean, is expected to arrive in three to four weeks—roughly matching Trump's public timeline for wrapping up talks with Tehran, Axios reports. Iranian officials repeatedly have said they will not bargain under threat of military action.

Trump told reporters he's sending the world's largest aircraft carrier, per the Hill, "in case we don't make a deal, we'll need it." He said before meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week that he was considering such a move. That extended the deployment of the Ford, which has been at sea for almost eight months. An analyst said lengthening the warship's deployment makes a US strike on Iran more likely, per the Washington Post. "Once it gets over there, there'll be a lot of pressure to use it," said Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A US official told Axios that Trump and Netanyahu agreed to maintain pressure on Iran throughout the nuclear talks.

Adm. Daryl Caudle had warned publicly warned last month that the ships in the Ford strike force are due for routine maintenance, promising "some pushback" if the deployment was extended. The Ford and its escorts sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, in June, and now are not scheduled to return to their home ports until late April or early May, per the New York Times. The military did not immediately say when the maintenance would be performed, per the Post.