3 carriers operating in Middle East for first time in decades

The U.S. military said on Friday that three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East, for the first time in over two decades, as the U.S. enforces its naval blockade against Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. 

The three aircraft carriers – USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Gerald R. Ford and USS George H.W. Bush – along with their carrier air wings, provide more than 200 aircraft at the Pentagon’s disposal, along with more than 15,000 sailors and Marines. 

The swelling of U.S. firepower in the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) comes as President Trump on Thursday declined to provide a timeline when the war with Iran might end and days after indefinitely extending a ceasefire with Tehran. 

But if Trump gives the greenlights to the Pentagon to unleash attacks on Iran, the warships, carrying F-35s fighter jets, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, F/A-18E Super Hornets, E-2C early warning aircraft, MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters and CMV-22B Ospreys, provide a number of options.

The USS George H.W. Bush, one of the two Nimitz-class carriers in the Centcom region, departed Virginia in late March and took the long path to the Middle East, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, where Iran-backed Houthi rebels have conducted attacks against vessels previously. 

“Not only is the blockade growing, in fact, a second aircraft carrier will join the blockade in just a few days, but this growing blockade is also gone global,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday morning at the Pentagon, referring to USS Bush. 

The arrival of USS Bush in the Centcom area of responsibility could provide some relief to USS Gerald R. Ford, which has been deployed since June, including being dispatched to the U.S. Southern Command region ahead of the successful Nicolas Maduro raid in Venezuela. Typically, U.S. carriers are deployed for about seven months. 

Hegseth said Friday morning that 34 Iranian ships have been turned around since the naval blockade took effect. 

“Every ship that the US believes meets our criteria, either Iranian ships or to and from Iranian ports, has been turned around,” Hegseth said during the briefing. 

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Senators to introduce Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act for SNAP recipients

GOP senators ratchet up pressure on Speaker Johnson to quickly end DHS shutdown

DOJ drops criminal probe of Fed, Jerome Powell

‘Flashing red’ warning signs for GOP put Senate in play

Israel’s Netanyahu reveals cancer diagnosis

2 GOP senators break ranks on final Senate budget vote

4 GOP senators vote against adding SAVE America Act to budget package

Hegseth gives 2 questions to TMZ at Operation Epic Fury briefing

Trump’s decline is an emergency: Why doesn't Congress treat it like one?

Democrats worry they may be taking the wrong lesson from recent wins

2 Republicans break with party as GOP defeats budget amendment to lower health ...

Hegseth responds to pope’s criticism: ‘We know what authority we have’

Trump lived by the conspiracy theory — now he pays the price

Justice Department targets citizens in new denaturalization push

Liberals shocked! San Francisco fixed its subway by stopping crime 

Trump faces conservative blowback over Spirit Airlines rescue

Luna: Trump should pardon soldier accused of Maduro bet

Navy secretary’s removal points to Trump’s anxiety over shipbuilding

The Hill Podcasts – Morning Report

© The Hill