President Donald Trump has ordered a third aircraft carrier and an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The additional strike group’s arrival in the region will follow Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to kick the Iranian delegation out of the United States after negotiations faltered following talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
RUBIO BOOTS IRANIAN DIPLOMATS
Axios first reported on Tuesday that Rubio had asked the Iranian diplomats to leave the country before their scheduled departure date.
Axios reporter Barak Ravid described Rubio’s move as a highly unusual diplomatic rebuke, writing that it exposed the deep distrust between the two countries amid unsuccessful efforts to broker an end to the war.
During his speech at the U.N., Trump said he has a “big decision” to make about whether or not to “annihilate” Iran.
DEPLOYMENT WILL TAKE WEEKS
The Journal noted, however, that the buildup will not happen overnight.
According to officials cited in the report, the ships, jet fighters, Marines and sailors will arrive in the region by the end of November. Trump recently told aides that he expects to resume bombing Iran that same month, the Journal reported.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt left its home port of San Diego on Sunday on a scheduled deployment, according to the report.
The USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, made up of three amphibious ships carrying Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, departed on Monday.
THREE CARRIERS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE APRIL
Two carriers, the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS George Washington, are already operating in the Middle East.
If the Washington remains in the region after the Roosevelt arrives, it would bring the number of carrier strike groups there to three for the first time since April, the Journal reported.
That was before Iran and the United States reached a fragile ceasefire that temporarily halted fighting that began on Feb. 28.
The ceasefire later collapsed, and the two sides have fought sporadically since, according to the report.
However, the Journal noted that the outcome is not set in stone. The USS George Washington could leave the region and return to its home port in Japan, which would bring the U.S. force back down to two carriers.
Spokespeople for the White House and the Pentagon did not respond to the Journal’s requests for comment.
The deployment comes at a tense moment between Washington and Tehran. Diplomatic efforts on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly fell apart, Rubio sent the Iranian delegation packing ahead of schedule, and Trump publicly weighed whether to “annihilate” Iran during his address to world leaders.
With the Theodore Roosevelt and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group now underway, the additional ships, fighter jets, Marines and sailors are expected to be in position by the end of November, the same month Trump has reportedly told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran.
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