President Trump threatens Iran, calling supreme leader ‘very concerned’
President Trump has issued a new warning to Iran and its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei ahead of expected talks over Iran’s nuclear program.
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon is sending aircraft carriers from the Caribbean to the Middle East, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, Feb. 13, as tensions between the United States and Iran escalate.
The USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s newest aircraft carrier and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, operates in the Caribbean with escort ships and also participated in operations in Venezuela earlier this year.
One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it would take at least a week for the aircraft carrier to reach the Middle East.
Gerald R. Ford will join the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, several missile destroyers, fighter jets and reconnaissance planes that have moved to the Middle East in recent weeks.
The United States most recently carried out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June last year and stationed two aircraft carriers in the area.
With only 11 aircraft carriers in the U.S. military’s arsenal, carriers are a scarce resource, and their schedules are typically set far in advance.
U.S. Southern Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Latin America, said in a statement that it remains focused on countering “illegal activity and malign actors in the Western Hemisphere.”
President Donald Trump said this week that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran.
He suggested Thursday that a deal with Iran could be concluded within the next month.
“We have to make a deal, or it’s going to be very traumatic, very traumatic,” Trump told reporters.
long term development
The Ford has been essentially at sea since June 2025 and was supposed to have operated in Europe before abruptly moving to the Caribbean in November.
Aircraft carrier deployments are typically nine months, but are often extended during periods of increased U.S. military activity.
Navy officials have long warned that long deployments at sea can damage ship morale.
Officials said the administration had considered sending another aircraft carrier, the Bush, to the Middle East, but it is currently being certified and would take more than a month to arrive there.
The Ford is equipped with a nuclear reactor and can carry more than 75 military aircraft, including fighter jets such as the F-18 Super Hornet and E-2 Hawkeye, which serve as early warning systems.
The Ford also has advanced radar to help control air traffic and navigation.
Support ships such as the Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser USS Normandy and the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, Ramage, Kearney, and Roosevelt include surface-to-air, surface-to-surface, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
