USA increases presence of US fleet in the Middle East

News blog about the war in the Middle East

USA moves third aircraft carrier to the Middle East

USA moves third aircraft carrier to the Middle East. Israel attacks Iran’s chemical weapons development. An oil tanker is attacked off Qatar. All developments in the news blog.

The aircraft carrier “USS George HW Bush” and its accompanying ships are relocated to the Middle East. They are supposed to reinforce the aircraft carrier battle groups of the “USS Abraham Lincoln” and the “USS Gerald R. Ford”, as US officials told the “Wall Street Journal”. The U.S. may deploy three aircraft carriers to the region in the near future, according to U.S. officials. The Navy declined to comment on future operations.

The Bush left Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia, on Tuesday, according to a Navy news release. It could take weeks for the carrier to reach the region. The “Lincoln” is operating in the Arabian Sea, and the “Gerald R. Ford” is currently in the port of the Croatian city of Split for what are expected to be lengthy repairs.

The relocation comes as President Trump is examining further military options in Iran and at the same time additional US troops are being relocated to the region. A naval expeditionary unit aboard amphibious warfare ships reached the Middle East over the weekend.

Israel’s army says it has bombed a key supplier in Iran for the alleged development of chemical weapons. The army claimed that night that the factory, which posed as a civilian company, supplied the power apparatus with chemical substances, including fentanyl, for the research and development of chemical weapons. The information could not initially be independently verified. It is not known whether Iran was actually working on developing chemical weapons for military use.

Fentanyl is an anesthetic. It was said to be highly toxic in high doses. The company knowingly and systematically supplied “this deadly substance” to an Iranian Defense Ministry organization that used it for research and development of chemical weapons, Israel’s army said.

Kuwait has again come under drone attack. Fuel tanks at the international airport were hit, the country’s civil aviation authority said on Platform X overnight. Emergency services are on duty. According to initial findings, the shelling only caused material damage. There are no reports of injuries.