Pentagon sends second aircraft carrier to Mideast as Iran tensions rise

Washington: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered additional forces to the Middle East, including the Carl Vinson carrier strike group and aircraft, as the US vows to continue its strikes against Iran-backed Houthi militants and as tensions with Tehran are increasing over its nuclear programme.

The Carl Vinson will arrive in the region after completing exercises in the Indo-Pacific.

The department is also prolonging the Harry S. Truman carrier strike group's deployment in the region, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Tuesday. The unusual two-carrier presence repeats a show of force by the Biden administration last year.

"Secretary Hegseth continues to make clear that, should Iran or its proxies threaten American personnel and interests in the region, the United States will take decisive action to defend our people," Parnell said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday that any attack by the US or Israel would be met with "a firm retaliatory strike," after President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran unless it signs a deal renouncing nuclear weapons.

His remarks follow a period of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last week that there would be no direct negotiations with the US as long as the Trump administration maintains its "military threats." In an interview with NBC News over the weekend, Trump said "if they don't make a deal, there will be bombing."

The deployments also come as the US has launched a series of strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, which Trump said have "decimated" the group. The Houthis began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea in late 2023, ostensibly in support of the Palestinians after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza.