WASHINGTON — The United States is moving a third aircraft carrier strike group into the Middle East along with an amphibious force carrying about 2,000 Marines, escalating a military buildup as President Donald Trump signals he may resume strikes on Iran after the November midterms.
A U.S. official told Al Jazeera the USS Theodore Roosevelt group and the Makin Island expeditionary force have departed San Diego. The Wall Street Journal reported the full reinforcement is expected by November — the same window in which Trump has told aides he expects bombing to resume, according to that paper.
The war is in its eighth month and largely stalemated. Indirect talks collapsed after Washington rejected Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting a U.S. blockade, leaving crude above pre-war levels. Separately, UK maritime authorities said a tanker was hit by an unknown projectile in Hormuz on Thursday, sparking a fire; the crew was reported safe.
Treasury widened sanctions Thursday to Iran’s auto and rail sectors and to a Russia-linked financial channel officials say helps Tehran evade prior restrictions. Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on X that Iran loaded “ZERO crude oil” onto tankers in September. Diplomacy remains frosty after Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s UN delegation to leave New York early when Qatari-mediated talks failed.
Regional temperatures rose further when a Saudi-led coalition accused Iran-backed Houthis of striking a Medina power station that feeds the Prophet’s Mosque complex; the Houthis called the claim a lie. For drivers in Arizona and across the U.S., the practical spillover is still at the pump — and a larger naval presence raises the odds that any post-election escalation hits energy markets again.