Global & US Headlines
U.S. Redirects USS Gerald R. Ford, Establishing Dual-Carrier Gulf Presence to Squeeze Iran
On 13 Feb 2026 Washington abruptly ordered the Caribbean-based USS Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East, creating a two–aircraft-carrier force timed to increase leverage as nuclear talks with Tehran stall.
Focusing Facts
- Pentagon officials confirmed the Ford will join the USS Abraham Lincoln within roughly one week, the first dual-carrier deployment to the region since June 2025 strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
- With only 11 U.S. carriers in service, the Ford’s diversion extends its deployment beyond 8 months, well past the Navy’s standard 9-month rotation, and required shelving plans to send the USS Bush, still in certification.
- U.S. forces recently shot down an Iranian drone near the Lincoln and intercepted an Iranian attempt to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring the escalating tit-for-tat environment.
Context
Carrier diplomacy has long served Washington as floating coercion: the 1988 "Operation Praying Mantis" duel with Iran and the 2007 double-carrier surge off Iran both used large decks to signal resolve without committing ground troops. The present move echoes that playbook but also exposes structural strain—11 hulls must cover two oceans, a Western Hemisphere strategy, and now renewed Gulf deterrence, mirroring Britain’s overstretch before the 1956 Suez debacle. Over the past 30 years U.S. carriers have spent roughly one-third of their time in CENTCOM waters; the Ford’s diversion shows that despite talk of pivoting to Asia or Latin America, the gravity of Middle-East crises keeps tugging resources back. Whether this gambit forces Tehran to compromise or merely normalizes an expensive posture, the precedent matters: carrier task forces remain the coin of American coercive diplomacy. On a century-scale, every such deployment wears down matériel and political capital; if repeated without diplomatic payoff, historians may compare it to the waning returns of 19th-century gunboat diplomacy that eventually gave way to multilateral institutions.
Perspectives
US local news outlets carrying Associated Press reports
US local news outlets carrying Associated Press reports — They cast Trump’s decision as a calculated bargaining chip to pressure Tehran into a quick nuclear deal, repeating his “in case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it” rationale while noting the logistics of moving the USS Ford. Because these papers run the AP wire with little added context, they mostly relay White House talking points and omit wider strategic critiques, so readers may see the buildup as routine and justified.
Middle Eastern regional press
Middle Eastern regional press — Coverage stresses that adding a second US carrier risks igniting a broader regional war at a time the Mideast is still destabilised by other conflicts, echoing Gulf Arab warnings and recalling prior US strikes. These outlets foreground regional insecurity and civilian fears, which can amplify perceptions of US aggression and bolster their governments’ calls for de-escalation.
Pro-Israel Jewish-American media
Pro-Israel Jewish-American media — Reporting frames the carrier move as a necessary show of force to “instill fear” in Iran and backs Netanyahu’s demand for a harder line on missiles and proxies before any agreement. By aligning closely with Israeli leadership, the coverage tends to endorse military pressure as effective diplomacy and pays scant attention to potential humanitarian fallout.