Biggest US aircraft carriers deployed as Trump considers Iran strikes | US | News
The Trump administration is preparing for potential land and sea operations against Iranian targets amid threats of attacks not seen in more than two decades, at a time when hostilities between Tehran and Washington have escalated dramatically.
New reporting from military and defense news publication 19FortyFive reveals that the Trump administration is positioning two aircraft carriers near Iran in case the president chooses to continue his offensive plans in the Middle East.
This deployment follows intelligence suggesting the Iranians have a significant missile arsenal that could pose a threat not seen since 2003 during America’s war against Iraq.
Iranian officials acknowledged its formidable missile capability; “Our missile force today far surpasses that of the 12-day war,” the country’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in November, referring to the 11-day conflict with Israel in June 2025.
Rebecca Grant, a distinguished national security analyst with a PhD in International Relations, wrote an analysis for 19FortyFive stating that the alarming danger of war posed by Iran’s weapons is “real and urgent.”
“They were Iranian missiles targeting the US air base at Al Udeid in Qatar, resulting in the largest Patriot missile ever launched at once on June 23, 2005,” Grant said. “A suite of missiles and drones launched against Israel in 2024 had to be intercepted by forces ranging from U.S. Air Force F-15Es to Navy destroyers using both the older SM-3 Block 1B variant and the wider-angle SM-3 Block 2A developed for the Pacific.”
Grant notes that potential American strikes on Iran could be complicated because “potential targets are arrayed across the country, from solid-fuel missile production facilities at Shahroud in the northeast to the cratered air base at Hamadan near Iran’s western border.”
President Trump focused on restricting the country’s missile production capabilities and persuaded the UN International Atomic Energy Agency to catalog Iran’s illegally possessed uranium, which accelerated Iran’s weapons development.
Tehran has so far agreed to prepare a written proposal addressing its concerns about America’s missiles, following indirect nuclear discussions in Geneva last week.
President Trump on Friday warned that targeted attacks against Iran would remain on the table if the two countries cannot reach an agreement on arms.
Trump’s warnings came after a journalist investigated whether Washington would take limited military action while negotiations continue. The President responded: “I guess I can say I’ve thought about it.”
A few hours later, he told reporters that Iran “would be better off making a fair deal.”
Likewise, Iranian representatives stated that they were ready for conflict if negotiations with the United States collapse.
“We are ready for diplomacy and we are ready to negotiate as much as we are ready for war,” Araghchi said last week. The increased warnings come as President Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Tuesday; Here he is expected to defend his strict foreign policies.
