US deploys 3rd carrier with 9,000 more troops to Mideast
What's the story
The United States is reportedly sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East. The group of ships currently en route to the Middle East includes about 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines. It consists of the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island amphibious readiness group, with its two amphibious landing ships. This deployment will bring the total number of US sailors and Marines in the area to over 20,000.
Ships
Washington is normally deployed to the Pacific Ocean
The USS George HW Bush and USS George Washington are already present in the area.
The Washington is normally deployed to the Pacific Ocean but was sent to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been at sea for more than 260 days in a row.
After the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group arrives, the Washington could move to seas off Japan, The Guardian reported.
Diplomatic tensions
Trump rejects Iran's peace proposal
The deployment comes after US President Donald Trump warned Iran of "possible" new strikes after the midterm elections while rejecting Tehran's latest ceasefire proposal as insufficient.
Trump said he rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal presented last week because its terms fell short of what Washington now wanted.
The proposal called for reopening Hormuz and resuming negotiations on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports.
"They made an offer...It's just...not good enough."
Pentagon
US has sent two additional Patriot missile batteries
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also extended the deployments of air defense units and the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. The US has kept approximately 20 Navy ships in the region to enforce the embargo and escort commercial vessels through the strait.
In addition, the US has sent two additional Patriot missile batteries in recent weeks to protect energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Axios reported.