US to deploy third aircraft carrier and 10,000 more troops to Middle East as Trump considers strikes on Iran

Donald Trump is considering new strikes against Iran as the Pentagon prepares to send around 10,000 more troops to a group of ships in the Middle East. 

The troop movement, which includes a third aircraft carrier, underscores the rapidly evolving dynamic of Trump’s war against Iran as he ponders his next move, with midterm elections in the United States looming large and new signs that the nature of the conflict may be becoming more complex. 

The group of ships now en route to the Middle East together carry over 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines.

It includes the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which recently deployed with the cruiser USS Chosin, and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group, which includes the USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage amphibious landing ships.

It could mean that three carriers are in the region as early as the end of October, according to the US official, who spoke to The Associated Press 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 H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington are in the region now, along with the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group. 

Further strikes against Iran remain a possibility, especially after Trump told reporters Thursday that early indications suggest that Iran is linked to the FlyDubai co-pilot who stabbed his captain and tried to crash an Israel-bound flight on Wednesday. 

‘We’re working on it right now and being very open with us.’

Responding to whether the pilot has links to Iran or the IRGC, Trump shot back: ‘I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is yes. But we’re working on it right now.’ 

If the co-pilot is found to have links to Iran, the US will punish the regime for backing the attack, Trump warned.   

‘They’ll be hit very hard,’ he said, delivering his five-word threat. ‘Don’t worry.’

Trump added that if the link to Iran is established, the United States would retaliate. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a Fox News interview earlier Thursday that investigators believe the FlyDubai suspect underwent ‘Islamist, radical indoctrination’ but did not provide further details.

‘Oh, they´ll be hit very hard, don´t worry,’ Trump said. ‘You just ask them. They know what happened. They´ll be hit very hard.’ 

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.

Trump, in a Time magazine interview published Thursday, also raised the prospects of new strikes, saying it is ‘possible’ that he will ramp up bombing in Iran after the November 3 elections in the United States.

When pressed, Trump said he could not go into further detail about his strategy.

‘I can´t tell you that because look, you know, you´re asking, where are you going to bomb?’ Trump said.

He said in the interview, conducted Monday, that he rejected the latest ceasefire proposal from Iran because ‘things that I wouldn´t have approved a year ago I wouldn’t have today.’

Trump cited as an example an offer from Iran to ‘open up’ the Strait of Hormuz, the key energy shipping corridor, but said the overall proposal was ‘not good enough.’

Asked if the increasingly unpopular war would threaten Republican Party chances in November, Trump at first responded, ‘It´s possible.’ 

But then he added, ‘It should help, because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.’ 

The president said ‘100 percent of the people’ oppose Iran having nuclear attack capabilities ‘including worldwide.’

‘So, when you say it that way, it would help,’ Trump added. ‘If you don´t say that, it could hurt.’

Yet, there’s also growing concern that Tehran might be turning to asymmetrical tactics following the FlyDubai attack and another suspicious incident in the UK.

Authorities believe that Iran might be looking to shift strategy just as the US finds greater success in loosening Iran´s grip over the Strait of Hormuz and getting Gulf allies’ oil to market, while a Navy blockade is shutting down Iran´s own oil exports.

British authorities announced on Thursday the arrest of a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of plotting a terror attack following a security incident at a US-run military air base in England that British authorities have linked to Tehran.

The arrest of the 27-year-old man in Central London came after UK authorities arrested five men, all British nationals in their 20s and from London, in the early hours of Sunday on suspicion of explosives and terror offenses close to the RAF Fairford air base

The base has been used by American bombers to strike Iran. The suspects have since been released on bail.

The flight plunged more than 14,000ft in less than 30 seconds during the incident as it flew over Saudi Arabia on the journey from the United Arab Emirates to Israel, according to the flight-tracking website Flightradar24.

Despite the scare, all passengers remained safe during the incident. 

However, both the co-pilot and captain were hospitalized, according to Tabuk airport officials. The flight made an emergency landing in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after passengers subdued the co-pilot. 

Trump praised Boeing and its CEO Kelly Ortberg in a social media post Thursday morning for the design of the 737 MAX and its ability to withstand extreme conditions as it rapidly descended before stabilizing.