Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Oct 2: The United States is deploying a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East along with an additional 9,000 to 10,000 troops amid heightened tensions with Iran and US President Donald Trump’s warning of possible further strikes after the November 3 midterm elections.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group are expected to arrive in the region by the end of November. Two other US aircraft carriers, the USS George H W Bush and the USS George Washington, are currently stationed in the region.

The USS George Washington, which is normally deployed in the Pacific, has reached the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln following its extended deployment. The latest deployment would bring the US naval presence in the region to more than 20,000 sailors and Marines, along with hundreds of aircraft.

The development comes after Trump rejected an Iranian peace proposal announced by Tehran during the UN General Assembly in New York. Iran said the proposal had been conveyed to the United States through Qatari mediators.

Trump told reporters at the White House that Iran wanted an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, claiming Tehran was “losing so badly”.

Trump also suggested that Iran could be linked to an incident involving a co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to crash an Israel-bound flight.

Asked whether there was a connection between the incident and Iran, Trump said he believed the answer was yes based on information he was hearing, while adding that the matter was still being investigated.

Trump further said that Iran would be “hit very hard” if it was found responsible for the attack. He also suggested that the individual could have been placed on the aircraft by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or radicalised before the alleged attempt to bring down the aircraft.

There has been no official evidence establishing Iranian involvement in the incident so far.