Pentagon Deploys Third Aircraft Carrier and 10,000 More Troops to Middle East as Trump Threatens Iran With Destruction

The Pentagon is sending a third aircraft-carrier strike group and additional Marine Corps amphibious ships to the Middle East, adding roughly 9,000 to 10,000 troops to a region where more than 50,000 U.S. forces are already stationed. The USS Theodore Roosevelt departed its San Diego home port on Sunday, and the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group is also heading to the region, with forces expected to arrive by late November. Bloomberg reported that no final destination decision has been made for the Roosevelt, but the deployment returns the number of carrier strike groups in the area to three, matching the force level at the outset of the war against Iran.

The buildup comes as President Trump said Iran's latest peace offer is insufficient and that he is weighing resumed bombing after the midterm elections if no agreement is reached. Trump issued a stark public ultimatum, saying Iran will either sign a deal or "won't exist any longer," and separately claimed he had eliminated Iran's nuclear threat "in one night," with the remaining time focused on ensuring that result holds.

Tensions sharpened further when Trump said he has reason to believe Iran was involved in a foiled aircraft hijacking involving a FlyDubai pilot, telling reporters, "Based on what I'm hearing, is yes, but we're working on it right now." A supertanker was reported ablaze after an attack in the Strait of Hormuz as the troop deployments were announced. Iran's UN mission, for its part, said its delegation departed New York on Monday as previously scheduled and rejected reports that it had been asked to leave by the United States.