Trump sends a third aircraft carrier to the Middle East as his administration lays groundwork for fresh Iran strikes
Donald Trump, JD Vance and Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in July. Trump has denied that a letter Vance sent to Iran's top security official was intended to revive peace negotiations, insisting it concerned…Iran's Revolutionary Guard says four tankers have caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, in a picture posted on X by Al Jazeera English.
The USS Abraham Lincoln's arrival brings the total to three US carrier strike groups active in the Middle East — the biggest concentration of American naval power in the region since Iraq was invaded in 2003. Trump said the conflict would "get wrapped up soon" but offered no timeline, while reports indicate the administration is preparing a fresh wave of strikes if Iran refuses to sign a nuclear agreement.
Iran's headline inflation hit 90% in September after Operation Economic Outcast was launched, with the rial collapsing to 2,687,000 per dollar and no oil loaded onto vessels since 25 August.
Iran's supreme leader Khamenei has stepped out of the shadows to reassert control as the economic and military pressure intensifies around Tehran.
The Pentagon is quietly drafting a budget roughly $400bn smaller than Trump's $1.5 trillion request, with even Republican senators doubting the full sum can pass.
