As tensions ramp up amid fragile truce, US military says it ‘redirected’ 34 vessels as part of blockade on Iran’s ports. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026The United States has three aircraft carriers in the Middle East for the first time in 23 years with the arrival of the USS George HW Bush, the US military has said, amid a fragile ceasefire with Iran.The Middle East-based Central Command (CENTCOM) of the US military said on Friday that the carriers include 12 accompanying ships, more than 200 aircraft, and 15,000 soldiers.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“For the first time in decades, three aircraft carriers are operating in the Middle East at the same time,” CENTCOM said.The last time the US amassed that amount of military assets in the region’s waters was in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.The other two US aircraft carriers in the region are USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R Ford, which is the largest in the world.The show of force signals that the US is preparing to return to fighting should the fragile ceasefire between the US, Israel and Iran unravel.Diplomacy between the two countries has been in limbo, with Iran setting the lifting of the US naval blockade against its ports as a condition for resuming the talks.US President Donald Trump announced extending the truce on Wednesday, but he said the naval siege would persist.For its part, Iran has reblocked the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US blockade after declaring the waterway completely open last week when the regional ceasefire was extended to Lebanon.Trump has not set a deadline for the extended ceasefire and suggested that he is comfortable with the status quo, which he argues is depleting the Iranian economy at a low cost for the US. Advertisement “I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t,” he wrote in a social media post on Thursday.The US president was later asked how long he would be willing to wait before receiving a proposed deal from Iran. He said: “Don’t …
