Dubai, UAE – US President Donald Trump has indicated he may send a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, even as Washington and Tehran prepare to resume negotiations aimed at preventing fresh conflict, reports said.
Oman facilitated talks between Iran and the United States last week. Iran’s foreign ministry said the discussions helped Tehran assess Washington’s seriousness and created enough common ground to continue diplomacy.
The diplomatic outreach follows heightened military positioning by the US Trump had already deployed one aircraft carrier to the region, sparking concerns about possible military escalation. Last month, he had also threatened to intervene militarily during a sweeping government crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran but stopped short of doing so.
In interviews with Israeli media, Trump warned of consequences if negotiations fail. “Either we reach a deal or we’ll have to do something very tough,” Israel’s Channel 12 quoted him as saying.
Trump also told Channel 12 and Axios that he was considering dispatching a second aircraft carrier to the region. According to officials cited by Reuters, the USS George Washington in Asia and the USS George H.W. Bush on the US east coast are possible options, though both are at least a week away from the Middle East. The Pentagon could alternatively deploy the USS Gerald R. Ford from the Caribbean.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei struck a cautiously positive tone after last week’s talks. “After the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process,” he said.
Baghaei added that Tuesday’s visit by Ali Larijani, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to Oman had been scheduled in advance. Larijani is also expected to travel to Qatar, another regional mediator.
Oman’s state news agency reported that Larijani and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq discussed efforts to reach a “balanced and just” agreement between Iran and the US, stressing the need to return to dialogue to bridge differences and promote regional and global peace and security.
However, significant differences remain. Washington wants to widen the negotiations beyond Iran’s nuclear programme to address its ballistic missile capabilities. Tehran has rejected that demand, saying its missile stockpile is not open for discussion.
Baghaei said the US “must act independently of foreign pressures, especially Israeli pressures that ignore the interests of the region and even the US.”
Iran has continued to insist that sanctions relief must be central to any agreement. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran will demand the lifting of financial sanctions and uphold its nuclear rights, including enrichment.
The United States has called on Iran to give up its stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60% fissile purity, which is close to weapons-grade levels.
Iran and the United States held five rounds of talks last year over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but the process collapsed largely over disagreements about uranium enrichment on Iranian soil.
Since US strikes on its facilities last year, Iran has said it has halted enrichment activity, while maintaining that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
