Iran-US war latest: Trump sends new aircraft carrier to Middle East as war puts troops under strain
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iran-us-war-live-trump-hormuz-naval-blockade-oil-prices-b3032930.html
Iran-US war latest: Trump sends new aircraft carrier to Middle East as war puts troops under strain
A servicemember complained of rotten meat and a lack of supplies in messages home on board the carrier
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The United States is preparing to deploy a new aircraft carrier to the Middle East to relieve military personnel stationed on USS Abraham Lincoln for more than 200 days amid growing concerns about living conditions on the ship, according to a report.
The US military is understood to be preparing to replace the Lincoln with the USS George Washington as part of a scheduled Middle East deployed, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing US officials.
The Lincoln has been deployed for more than 250 days and has not made a port call in 200 days, setting a record for consecutive days at sea, according to US senator Richard Blumenthal, who wrote to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about concerns for those on board.
Mr Blumenthal cited reports of “shortages of basic supplies, water contamination, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health, deck safety concerns, and disruptions in the mail system”.
Hegseth insisted on Thursday that the US was prepared to maintain its blockade on Iran “indefinitely”, however, saying the military had the means to rotate its ships.
"The United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we'll continue to," Hegseth said, adding that he is advising president Donald Trump to keep applying economic pressure on Iran.
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US wants Netanyahu to condemn settler siege in Palestinian village, officials say
The Trump administration wants Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn a siege imposed by Jewish settlers in a Palestinian village, US and Israeli officials said on Friday, as settlers pressured residents by pitching a new tent before Israeli soldiers arrived and it was taken down.
Settlers have been besieging homes in Qusra in the occupied West Bank for almost a week, trapping Palestinians in an area where rights groups say settlers are mounting a concerted effort to seize more land, further eating into territory where Palestinians aim to establish a state.
The siege has drawn public US criticism: the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee — a strong supporter of Jewish settlement in the West Bank — on Thursday condemned settlers besieging a Palestinian home as "Israeli terrorists".
A US official and an Israeli official said on Friday White House officials are pressing Netanyahu to publicly condemn the siege.
Washington began to protest after learning that the home of a Palestinian-American was among those under siege, said the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions, of which they had knowledge.
Netanyahu has not commented on the siege in Qusra. Neither his office nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
'People were burning... it was a strange scene of doomsday': Crew of Yemeni vessel recount their chaotic rescue after Houthis' deadly attack
Crew members of a Yemeni commercial ship who survived a deadly attack by Houthi rebels earlier this week said a second missile struck the vessel just as rescue efforts from the initial strike were underway, causing even more chaos and casualties.
In all, three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthis struck the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just off Yemen’s coast, as it was coming into port, killing six people and injuring at least nine others, according to Yemeni authorities.
“People were burning ... it was a strange scene of doomsday,” said Zaheer Ahmed, a Pakistani crew member recovering at a hospital in the port city of Mokha. “I shouted for help and a Yemeni soldier came to my aid,” said Ahmed, who was injured in both legs.
Crew of Yemeni vessel recount their chaotic rescue after Houthis' deadly attack
In context: US military denies reports of sailor deaths and suicidal ideation on the USS Abraham Lincoln
US Central Command had denied reports that seven sailors died in a brawl aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East and that there had been a spike in suicidal ideation on the aircraft carrier.
“USS Abraham Lincoln has maintained among the highest crew reenlistment rates (84.4%) of all aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy”, CENTCOM wrote on X.
“No service members aboard the aircraft carrier have died, and the one Sailor who fell overboard Aug. 3 was quickly and safely recovered.
“The rampant misreporting on Abraham Lincoln's historic deployment is a disservice to our men and women in uniform and their loved ones”.
US sailors trying to jump overboard on extended Middle East deployment
Desperate sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have tried to jump overboard during an extended deployment in the Middle East, their families say.
The aircraft carrier, crewed by around 5,000 sailors and Marines, has been deployed since November 21 but more lately has been supporting U.S. military operations in the war with Iran. The deployment had been expected to end in May but has been extended with no current return date, families told The Military Times.
Annabelle Loma, the wife of a sailor serving on the Abraham Lincoln, told the publication her husband is now on medical hold after trying to jump from the carrier.
US sailors trying to jump overboard amid Middle East deployment, families say
Sailor’s texts reveal deteriorating conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln
Text messages sent home by a sailor aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have revealed new details about the deteriorating conditions on board, according to a report.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was deployed to the Middle East last November with around 5,000 crew on board and has been supporting President Donald Trump’s war with Iran since the spring.
It had been expected to be deployed until May but its stay has been extended and there is currently no end date in sight, a situation that has led to a number of recent reports about dwindling morale.
In full:
Sailor’s texts reveal deteriorating conditions on USS Abraham Lincoln, report says
Top war aim is now keeping down gas prices, says JD Vance
US vice president JD Vance said the first aim of the Iran war is keeping down gas prices for Americans - before the stated goal of ostensibly stopping Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
Pressed on the “seesawing” between pursuing talks and attacking Iran on Thursday, Mr Vance told Fox News that he believed the recurring “issue” is that Tehran does not always “honour” its deals.
He went on to outline new objectives for the war, saying goal “number one” was to “keep oil and gasoline cheap for Americans all over our country”.
He added: “And then, obviously, goal number two is ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.”
“I feel confident we’re accomplishing both of those goals, but it’s inherently an unpredictable thing, because the Iranians themselves are unpredictable, and they sometimes don’t honor the commitments they’ve made to us.”
After the US attacked Iran in February, Trump laid out a set of objectives for the war which included: destroying Iran’s stockpile of missiles and drones, degrading its military capabilities, preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon, and stopping Iran from arming and funding proxy groups across the region.
Watch: Hegseth says US can keep up naval blockade ‘indefinitely’ after Tehran vows to prolong war
Hegseth says US could maintain 'indefinite' blockade of Iran
The United States on Thursday said that it could maintain a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and would ratchet up pressure on Tehran as ceasefire talks have floundered.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that the U.S. military has the capability to maintain a naval presence in the region to enforce its blockade of Iran, which has inflicted severe economic damage on the country.
"Indefinitely the United States Navy can maintain a blockade like that because we'll rotate ships in and out, as we have, and we'll continue to," Hegseth told reporters during a trip to Panama.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to eight vessels on Tuesday, compared with a 10-day average of about 12 vessels, and 130 to 140 ships before the war.
The US lifted its blockade of Iran's shipping and ports for a month in mid-June but has since reimposed it, cutting off Tehran's primary source of hard currency and compounding earlier losses from wartime strikes on its energy infrastructure.
Catch up: US cannot verify Israeli warnings of assassination attempts on Trump - report
The US has received several warnings from Israel over the past year that Iran intended to assassinate President Donald Trump that US intelligence officials could not independently verify, US officials have said.
The warnings, passed to US intelligence agencies and in some cases relayed directly by Israeli officials to senior White House officials, included possible plots to shoot Trump with a sniper or recruit someone to attack him with a knife at a large public event, a current and two former officials said.
The tips apparently began in the lead-up to the 12-day war in June 2025 and intensified prior to the Us decision to go to war in Iran in February.
Ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, Israeli officials allegedly briefed the White House about intelligence that indicated Iran may try to kill Trump, potentially with a shoulder-launched missile, while he traveled on Air Force One for the summit, the officials said.
The US intelligence community has long assessed that Iran wants to retaliate for Trump’s killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020. But the Central Intelligence Agency has not been able to corroborate some of the specific threats against Trump's life shared by Israeli intelligence since early last year, the officials said.
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