Washington sends a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East as its campaign against the Houthis escalates.

The United States announced on Tuesday that it will deploy a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, amid escalating tensions with the Houthis, who are disrupting shipping in the Red Sea.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson will join the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman to "continue to promote regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region."

The Pentagon has not specified exactly where these two carriers will sail.

But this move comes after the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility last month for attacks they said targeted the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea.

The Houthis confirmed on Wednesday morning that they had launched a new strike on the aircraft carrier. Their spokesman, Yahya Saree, said, “Our armed forces’ naval forces, missile forces, and unmanned aerial vehicles targeted enemy warships in the Red Sea, led by the American aircraft carrier Truman…” in an attack “that is the third in the past 24 hours.”

However, Washington, which has been launching raids against the Houthis in Yemen for weeks, has not confirmed any attacks on its carrier.

Since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, the Houthis, in a move they have positioned as part of their support for the Palestinian movement, have launched dozens of missile attacks against the Jewish state and against ships in the Red Sea they claim are linked to it.

Therefore, many ships wanting to reach the Mediterranean from the Indian Ocean have to bypass the African continent via the Cape of Good Hope.

The US Navy has about ten aircraft carriers.

Parnell added that Defense Minister Pete Hegseth had ordered the deployment of "additional squadrons and other air assets to the region to enhance air defense capabilities."

Satellite images released by Planet Labs showed six B-2 strategic bombers on the runway of Diego Garcia Air Base on Wednesday morning in the Chagos Archipelago, a British-controlled territory in the Indian Ocean.

200 strokes

The Houthis announced a new death toll on Wednesday, stating that four people were killed and three wounded in airstrikes on Hodeidah (west) on Tuesday evening, which they attributed to the United States.

On March 15, Washington announced a military operation against Yemeni rebels to halt their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a vital maritime passage for global trade. Washington reported that it had killed a number of senior Houthi officials.

US President Donald Trump vowed to eliminate the Iran-backed Houthis, warning Tehran against continuing to support them.

White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said Tuesday that "these strikes against the Houthis have been highly effective," citing "more than 200 successful strikes."

Trump warned the Houthis and Iranians on Monday via his Truth Social platform that "greater things are coming" if the attacks on ships do not stop, saying, "Our attacks will continue until they stop posing a threat to freedom of navigation."

At the end of March, Iran said it was open to "indirect" negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, a major area of contention between the two countries.

On Monday, Ali Larijani, advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, affirmed that his country does not seek to possess nuclear weapons, but "will have no choice but to do so" if attacked. This was in response to the US president's threat to launch a military strike against Iran if it does not reach an agreement on its nuclear program.

During Donald Trump's first term, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran. The agreement stipulated the lifting of several sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Following the US withdrawal, Iran gradually backed away from its commitments. In early December, Tehran announced that it had begun feeding new centrifuges into the Fordow facility, "which will, in the long term, significantly increase the rate of production of uranium enriched to 60%," according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

By reaching the 60% enrichment threshold, Iran is approaching the 90% level needed to build a nuclear weapon.

Iran's nuclear program raises concerns among Western countries, some of which accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge the Islamic Republic consistently denies.

Source: Reuters