The United States deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group on Jan. 26 to signal regional deterrence.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Jan. 26 that Iran has contacted his administration multiple times to seek talks, as the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group into Middle East waters and expanded sanctions targeting Tehran’s oil trade.
“They want to make a deal,” Trump said in an interview published by Axios. “I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”
The president declined to discuss what options his national security advisers had presented or whether he favored them, according to Axios.
Trump confirmed his decision to dispatch a U.S. aircraft carrier to waters near Iran.
“We have a big armada next to Iran,“ he said. ”Bigger than Venezuela.”
U.S. Central Command said in a Jan. 26 post on X that the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group is “currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability.”
“Sailors aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) perform routine maintenance as the aircraft carrier sails in the Indian Ocean, Jan. 26,” U.S. Central Command said.
Last week, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Washington deployed its Navy in the direction of Iran “just in case,” as he has repeatedly warned the Iranian regime not to execute protesters or face the wrath of the U.S. military.
The death toll since the start of the protests in Iran has risen to 6,126, according to aggregated data compiled by U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Jan. 26.
“Of these, 5,777 were protesters, 86 were children under the age of 18, 214 were forces affiliated with the government, and 49 were non-protesters or civilians,“ the Human Rights Activists News Agency said. ”The number of deaths still under investigation stands at 17,091.”
The Epoch Times is unable to independently verify the figures.
Trump has previously warned that if Iran executes protesters, the United States will “take very strong action.”
