The U.S. aircraft carrier in the Middle East is returning

On September 12, 2024, news from Washington. According to U.S. officials, the Pentagon's rare deployment of two naval aircraft carriers in the Middle East has now come to an end, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt is on its way back.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment and stay in the Middle East while requiring the USS Abraham Lincoln to arrive in the region more quickly. The Biden administration's move is aimed at strengthening the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to protect Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and defend U.S. forces.

For a long time, U.S. commanders in the Middle East have considered U.S. aircraft carriers and their accompanying warships to be an effective deterrent force in the region, especially against Iran. Since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in the Gaza Strip last fall, there has been an aircraft carrier in the region, and there was a situation where two aircraft carriers were deployed simultaneously for a short time. However, before last fall, the United States had not deployed such a large naval force in the region for many years.

As the Gaza war continued for 11 months, tens of thousands of people died, and international efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stalled repeatedly, the Roosevelt was decided to return. Both sides accused each other of making unacceptable additional demands. Earlier this year, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower remained in the Red Sea, able to respond to help Israel and protect commercial and naval vessels from attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The aircraft carrier returned home after more than eight months of combat deployment. The U.S. Navy called this the most intense deployment since World War II.

U.S. officials who requested anonymity to discuss troop movements said the Roosevelt and the USS Daniel Inouye destroyer are expected to arrive in the Indo-Pacific Command region on Thursday. Another destroyer in the strike group, the USS Russell, has left the Middle East and is operating in the South China Sea. The Lincoln is currently in the Gulf of Oman with several other warships and arrived in the Middle East about three weeks ago after overlapping deployment with the Roosevelt. There are also some U.S. warships in the eastern Mediterranean, including two destroyers and the USS Georgia missile submarine in the Red Sea.