The United States is rapidly increasing its military presence in the Middle East, with two aircraft carrier strike groups deployed near the region in a rare concentration of naval power amid tensions with Iran.
At the same time, President Donald Trump is reportedly weighing a narrow Iran nuclear deal that could allow limited, “token” uranium enrichment. Pentagon officials are also presenting options that range from diplomatic measures to potentially targeting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly emphasized that “only President Trump knows what he may or may not decide” regarding the next steps.
The world’s largest warship, the USS Gerald R Ford, has entered the Mediterranean, while the USS Abraham Lincoln operates nearby in Middle Eastern waters. The Ford passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on Friday, confirmed by verified photographs showing the vessel with the Moroccan mountain range in the background. Ship-tracking data also confirmed the passage of the USS Mahan, one of the destroyers in the Ford’s strike group, according to the BBC.
The Ford briefly switched on its automatic identification system (AIS) for the first time this year at 12:30 GMT on Wednesday, transmitting its position off Morocco’s Atlantic coast until 13:18 while sailing toward the Mediterranean. A transport aircraft attached to the carrier that landed in Spain that day was tracked at about 13:00 on Thursday heading toward the area where the carrier was later spotted.
The Abraham Lincoln was identified in publicly available European Sentinel-2 satellite images taken on Saturday in the Arabian Sea, around 240km off the coast of Oman and about 700km from Iran. The warship had not been seen since reportedly entering the region in January, having crossed open sea areas where satellite coverage is limited.
US and Iranian officials met for a second round of talks in Switzerland earlier this week, where progress was reported to have been made. President Donald Trump said on Thursday the world will likely find out within the next 10 days whether the US will reach a deal with Iran or take military action.
Warships in the region
BBC Verify tracked 12 US ships in the Middle East. The Abraham Lincoln, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier, together with three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers forms a carrier strike group.
Two additional destroyers capable of long-range missile strikes and three specialist littoral combat ships for near-shore operations are positioned at the US naval base in Bahrain naval station.
Two other destroyers have been seen in the eastern Mediterranean near the Souda Bay US base, and one more in the Red Sea. AFP reported Washington currently has 13 warships in the Middle East — one aircraft carrier, nine destroyers and three littoral combat ships — and that the arrival of the Ford and its three escorting destroyers will bring the total number of US warships in the region to 17.
Both carriers are operated by more than 5,600 crew and carry dozens of aircraft.
Aircraft and air defenses
In addition to aircraft aboard the carriers, the United States has sent dozens of other warplanes to European and Middle Eastern airbases, according to open-source intelligence accounts on X, flight-tracking website Flightradar24 and media reports.
These include F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning stealth fighter jets, as well as F-15 and F-16 warplanes.
Support aircraft deployed include KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refuelling tankers used to sustain long-range operations. Other US aircraft tracked moving to the region include E-3 Sentry command and surveillance aircraft designed to coordinate large-scale operations, C-17A heavy-lift transport aircraft used for delivering troops and cargo, Navy P-8A patrol and reconnaissance jets for long-range anti-submarine warfare, and the C-5M strategic transport aircraft, the largest in the US Air Force.
The United States has also reportedly boosted land-based air defenses in the Middle East, while numerous guided-missile destroyers in the region provide air-defense capability at sea. Tens of thousands of US military personnel remain stationed on bases across the region that are potentially vulnerable to counterattack.
Iran launched missiles at a US base in Qatar after Washington struck three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, but they were shot down by air defenses.
Iran's response
In response to recent US military movements, Iran has carried out its own show of force. On Monday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a maritime drill in the Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran. The exercise saw IRGC Commander-in-Chief Maj Gen Mohammad Pakpour inspecting naval vessels at a harbour before missiles were launched from a ship, the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency reported.
The arrival of the Ford adds to what has been tracked as a significant military buildup in the Middle East over recent weeks, including increased numbers of destroyers, combat ships and fighter aircraft across the region and surrounding seas.
Together, the Ford and Abraham Lincoln strike groups represent a major concentration of US naval and air power in the Middle East.