Third US aircraft carrier heads to Mideast as Iran war continues

A third US aircraft carrier strike group is heading to the Middle East as military operations against Iran continue, according to a US official familiar with the matter, after the Navy’s flagship carrier left the region for repairs.

The USS George H.W. Bush departed Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday for a deployment to the region along with an escort of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and is likely to take three weeks to get there, the person said, declining to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

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The vessel was dispatched to the Middle East after the USS Gerald R. Ford — the most expensive American warship ever built, at $13.2 billion — had to leave combat operations as a result of a fire in its laundry area.


The Bush’s deployment was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

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It comes as President Donald Trump seeks a diplomatic resolution to a disruptive war that has elevated energy prices, largely cut off shipping in the vital Strait of Hormuz and led to Iranian retaliation against Gulf allies.