Trump expects bombing of Iran to resume in November — Pentagon sends a third aircraft carrier and 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East

The Pentagon is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group and additional Marine Corps ships to the Middle East, adding another 9,000 to 10,000 troops to the region, while President Donald Trump is considering restarting strikes on Iran after the midterm elections, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal. Trump has recently told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran in the same month, the American newspaper reports.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt set sail on Sunday from its home port in San Diego on a scheduled deployment, while the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, made up of three amphibious ships carrying Marines of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, set sail on Monday. The ships, fighter jets, Marines and sailors are expected to arrive in the region by the end of November, according to U.S. officials.

Two aircraft carriers — USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington — are already in the Middle East. If Washington stays in the region after Roosevelt’s arrival, that would bring the number to three carrier strike groups for the first time since April, before Iran and the U.S. reached the fragile ceasefire that temporarily ended the fighting that began on February 28.

Together with the ships of the USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which are also in the region, U.S. forces in the Middle East could reach an unusual concentration of more than 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft.

The decision comes at a moment of high tensions: according to the New York Post, which cites the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, the Pentagon has planned for Roosevelt to be ready for a long stay, after Iranian attacks disrupted supply lines in the region, including a key port in Bahrain, causing critical supply shortages for sailors.

The additional troops would be added to the more than 50,000 American servicemen already in the region, an official said. However, it remains possible that Washington will leave the region and return to its home port in Japan, which would bring the force back to two aircraft carriers. White House and Pentagon spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment, the Wall Street Journal reports.