{"id":20225,"date":"2026-04-24T19:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20225"},"modified":"2026-04-24T19:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T18:34:05","slug":"us-has-three-aircraft-carriers-in-the-middle-east-for-first-time-since-2003-us-israel-war-on-iran-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=20225","title":{"rendered":"US has three aircraft carriers in the Middle East for first time since 2003 | US-Israel war on Iran News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As tensions ramp up amid fragile truce, US military says it \u2018redirected\u2019 34 vessels as part of blockade on Iran\u2019s ports.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published On 24 Apr 2026<\/span>24 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The United States has three aircraft carriers in the Middle East for the first time in 23 years with the arrival of the USS George HW Bush, the US military has said, amid a fragile ceasefire with Iran.<\/p>\n

The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM) of the US military said on Friday that the carriers include 12 accompanying ships, more than 200 aircraft, and 15,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time,\u201d CENTCOM said.<\/p>\n

The last time the US amassed that amount of military assets in the region\u2019s waters was in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.<\/p>\n

The other two US aircraft carriers in the region are USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R Ford, which is the largest in the world.<\/p>\n

The show of force signals that the US is preparing to return to fighting should the fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran unravel.<\/p>\n

Diplomacy between the two countries has been in limbo, with Iran setting the lifting of the US naval blockade against its ports as a condition for resuming the talks.<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump announced extending the truce on Wednesday, but he said the naval siege would persist.<\/p>\n

For its part, Iran has reblocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US blockade after declaring the waterway completely open last week when the regional ceasefire was extended to Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Trump has not set a deadline for the extended ceasefire and suggested that he is comfortable with the status quo, which he argues is depleting the Iranian economy at a low cost for the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn\u2019t,\u201d he wrote in a social media post on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The US president was later asked how long he would be willing to wait before receiving a proposed deal from Iran. He said: \u201cDon\u2019t rush me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran has described the blockade \u2013 which has seen US forces seize at least two Iranian oil ships \u2013 as an \u201cact of war\u201d.<\/p>\n

Iranian forces have also captured foreign commercial ships in the Hormuz Strait, accusing them of violating maritime regulations.<\/p>\n

With negotiations on hold, Trump has shown no signs of willingness to lift the siege in order to facilitate talks.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the US military said it has \u201credirected\u201d 34 vessels in the region. \u201cThe blockade against ships entering or exiting Iranian ports continues,\u201d CENTCOM said.<\/p>\n

Trump has previously threatened to destroy Iran\u2019s civilian infrastructure, including bridges, power and water stations.<\/p>\n

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that his country is awaiting the green light from Trump to return Iran to the \u201cage of darkness\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael is prepared to renew the war against Iran. The [Israeli military] is ready in defence and offence, and the targets are marked,\u201d Katz said, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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As tensions ramp up amid fragile truce, US military says it \u2018redirected\u2019 34 vessels as part of blockade on Iran\u2019s ports. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026 The United States has three aircraft carriers in the Middle East for the first time in 23 years with the arrival of the USS George HW Bush, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}