The US aircraft carrier USS George Washington has arrived in the Middle East, following an outcry over reported conditions aboard the USS Lincoln, a sister carrier that was deployed to the region during the US-Israel war with Iran.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees the Middle East, said Thursday that the USS George Washington reached the Arabian Sea on Wednesday as part of a scheduled deployment.
The move leaves the US with no carrier in the Western Pacific, despite Washington's strategic focus on that region.
Last week, the US Navy announced the USS Lincoln would return home. The carrier left San Diego in November and was deployed off Venezuela before being redirected after the US and Israel launched war with Iran on February 28.
This set a US Navy record for the longest deployment without a port call.
The situation drew renewed attention last week following reports of food and hygiene supply shortages aboard the ship, as well as maintenance issues caused by the extended time at sea.
Families of some of the roughly 5,000 sailors and Marines on board also described the mental health toll of the mission, including accounts to US media of individuals attempting to jump overboard.
Several Democratic lawmakers have alleged that the situation reflects poor planning by the Trump administration for a war that has become a prolonged asymmetric conflict nearly six months in, with no clear end in sight.
Even as fighting has recently paused, Iran continues to assert its influence over the Strait of Hormuz, while the US says it has made progress in increasing traffic along the vital trade route. The Trump administration has said it can sustain a blockade of Iran's ports indefinitely.
President Trump and top Pentagon officials have largely dismissed reports of conditions on the USS Lincoln as misleading, saying those on board are experiencing the harsh realities of wartime.
Meanwhile, there are no signs that US-Iran talks will resume soon, after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at finding a more durable solution to the war expired on Monday.
On Thursday, Trump announced an economic campaign he called the "most devastating economic strike" against Iran, a country long under US and Western sanctions.
He said any nation doing business with Iran would face "massive economic consequences," in what he dubbed an "economic D-Day."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed the announcement as a distraction, saying the approach would "bring more failure" to the US.
