US Navy
Carrier Strike Group 12, the strike group of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford
The USS Gerald R. Ford supercarrier Strike Group will join the USS Abraham Lincoln fleet in the Arabian Sea. According to Reuters, the US is preparing for the possibility of sustained multi-week operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack.
North American officials confirmed on Friday that the super aircraft carrier’s Strike Group USS Gerald R. Fordthe U.S. Navy’s newest largest nuclear aircraft carrier, is on its way to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs whether to take military action against Iran.
Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the first Ford-class aircraft carrier, began its current deployment on June 24, 2025, and found in the Caribbean Seawhere he participated in the US military intervention in Venezuela. It is expected to take at least one week to arrive to the Middle East.
O Carrier Strike Group 12consisting of the USS Gerald R. Ford and her escort, will join the USS Strike Group USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, which arrived in the Arabian Sea last month after previously operating in the South China Sea.
According to the magazine, the deployment of a Second Attack Group for the region is a show of force of Donald Trump, at a time when tensions between Washington and Tehran are increasing.
The USA has been progressively strengthen its forcesin preparation for potential operations against Iran. The deployment of the USS Gerald Ford adds thousands of additional troops, fighter planes, guided missile destroyers and firepower capable of conducting attacks and defending against them.
Donald Trump warned Tehran on Thursday that if a deal cannot be reached, It would be “very traumatic”and suggested that they “should agree very quickly.”
The USA deployed two aircraft carriers to the Middle Eastthe USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), in June last year, to support the Operation Midnight Hammerthe name given to air strikes against Iran’s nuclear program.
According to the agency, the US armed forces are preparing for the possibility of thesustained operations of several weeks against Iran, if Trump orders an attack, in what could become a much more serious conflict than those previously recorded between the two countries.
On Tuesday, US envoys Steve Witkoff e Jared Kushner will hold negotiations with Iran, in Geneva, with the mediation of representatives from Oman.
The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubiowarned on Saturday that, “although President Donald Trump’s preference would be to reach an agreement with Tehran, this It’s very difficult to achieve“.
On Friday, after a military event at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Trump openly raised the possibility of changing the government in Iransaying that “it seems that iflaugh the best thing that could happen“. He refused to reveal who he would like to take over Iran, but said that “there are people”.
Trump has long been skeptical of the sending ground troops to Iran, having said last year that “the last thing you want is ground forces“, and the kind of US firepower deployed in the Middle East so far suggests options for attacks mainly by air and naval forces.
In the intervention in Venezuela, Donald Trump also demonstrated his trust in US forces. special operationss to capture the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Operation Midnight Hammer in June was essentially a pinpoint attack of the US, with stealth bombers flying from the United States to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Iran carried out a very limited retaliatory attack on a US base in Qatar.
In a sustained campaign, the US military could achieve Iranian state and security facilitiesnot just nuclear infrastructure, a Pentagon official told Reuters on condition of anonymity who declined to provide specific details.
Experts say that the risks to US forces would be much greater in an operation of this type against Iran, which has a significant missile arsenal. You Iranian retaliatory attacks also increase the risk of a regional conflict.
The same person stated that the US expects Iran to retaliateleading to successive attacks and reprisals over time.
The company warned that, in the event of attacks on Iranian territory, it could retaliate against any US military base. The US maintains bases throughout the Middle East, including in Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye.
On Saturday, the leader of the Iranian opposition said that a US military intervention in Iran could save livesand urged Washington not to spend too much time negotiating with Tehran’s clerical rulers over a nuclear deal.
In a recent interview with Reuters, the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, said that there are signs that the Iranian government is on the verge of collapse and that an attack could weaken it or accelerate its downfall.
“We hope that this attack will speed up the process and that the people can finally return to the streets and take everything until the final collapse of the regime“, these Pahlavi.
