The United States is sending another aircraft carrier strike group and an amphibious force carrying 2,000 Marines to the Middle East. The conflict with Iran remains at a stalemate, and oil prices are still above pre-war levels. These deployments add military force as indirect talks stall over Washington’s blockade and Iran’s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting it.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt group and the Makin Island force have left San Diego, a U.S. official told Al Jazeera. The Wall Street Journal reported that the full buildup should be complete by November. This is the third aircraft carrier strike group reportedly headed to the region.
Military pressure and oil
President Donald Trump has signaled he intends to resume strikes on Iran after the November midterm elections. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump recently told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran that month. The planned military buildup and prospect of renewed bombing come as diplomacy remains deadlocked.
Washington rejected Iran’s proposal to reopen Hormuz in exchange for lifting the U.S. blockade. Indirect talks have stalled, and oil prices remain above pre-war levels. The report gives no price figure, but it ties the stalled negotiations and continuing blockade to those elevated prices.
On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran’s auto and rail sectors. The sanctions cover state-owned rail firms and suppliers in the UAE, Hong Kong, Turkey and Indonesia. Treasury also targeted the A7 network, a Russia-linked financial channel that the department says Iran uses to evade sanctions.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X on Thursday that Iran loaded “ZERO crude oil” onto tankers in September. The United States still maintains its blockade, and oil prices remain above their pre-war level. The article reports no breakthrough in efforts to end the war.
Conflict spreads across the region
On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen accused the Iran-backed Houthis of attacking a power station in Medina with a drone. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the strike on the Taibah distribution station knocked one transformer out of service but left the wider grid intact. The station supplies the Prophet’s Mosque.
A Houthi military staff member told the Saba news agency the accusation was a “lie” intended to cover up Saudi Arabia’s failure to substantiate an earlier claim that the Houthis had targeted Mecca, the Muslim holy city. The coalition and the Houthis traded accusations over attacks on sites in Saudi Arabia.
United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said an unknown projectile struck a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, causing a fire. The crew was reported safe. The report didn’t identify who fired the projectile.
Diplomacy remains stalled
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly ordered Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s delegation to leave New York earlier than planned after Qatari-mediated indirect talks failed to produce a breakthrough. The report called the move an unusual diplomatic rebuke and said it highlighted mistrust between the two countries.
The stalled discussions haven’t produced an agreement on reopening Hormuz or lifting the U.S. blockade. Meanwhile, the United States is moving additional military forces toward the region, Treasury is expanding sanctions, and Trump has signaled plans to resume strikes after the midterm elections.