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The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford and its strike group are moving from the Caribbean toward the Middle East as tensions escalate between the U.S. and Iran, according to reports.
The strike group is steaming across the Atlantic toward the Strait of Gibraltar, a Navy official confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday.
The move would place two aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships in the region. The USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers arrived in the Middle East more than two weeks ago.
After deploying from Norfolk, Virginia, in June 2025, the Ford was moved from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean last fall as the Trump administration assembled a major military presence before launching strikes on Venezuela and capturing President Nicolás Maduro.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford is heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate and President Trump demands full nuclear dismantlement. (Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Navy for comment on the matter.
The shift comes as Iran and the U.S. engage in a second round of indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, where negotiators continue to seek an agreement on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that Tehran must fully dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or face consequences. He called for “full dismantlement” of Iran’s program in comments tied to the Geneva negotiations and U.S. demands that go beyond a simple freeze.
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A map created by Fox News shows U.S. naval vessels are positioned across key waterways in the Middle East, from the eastern Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea, as part of an expanded American military presence in the region. (Fox News / USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker)
Last Thursday, Trump warned Iran that failure to reach a deal with the U.S. regarding its nuclear program would be “very traumatic” after the two countries held indirect talks in Oman earlier this month.
“It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly,” he told reporters.
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The USS Gerald R. Ford is heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalate and President Trump demands full nuclear dismantlement. (Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)
Trump also weighed in on the strategic posture in the region, urging U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer not to enter a reported long-term lease arrangement involving Diego Garcia, a key U.S.-U.K. military base in the Indian Ocean that could be critical in any potential operation against Iran.
“I have been telling Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of the United Kingdom, that Leases are no good when it comes to Countries, and that he is making a big mistake by entering a 100-Year Lease with whoever it is that is ‘claiming’ Right, Title, and Interest to Diego Garcia, strategically located in the Indian Ocean,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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“Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,” he added. “DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
