WASHINGTON, April 3C — The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is set to depart West Asia and head home in the “coming days” as peace talks with Iran remain stalled, according to a report published Wednesday, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing The Washington Post.
Citing multiple US officials, reported that the Ford — one of three US carriers currently deployed in the Middle East — is expected to arrive back at its home port in Virginia around mid-May after a record-breaking 309-day deployment, the longest for any modern US aircraft carrier.
The Ford’s departure will leave the USS George H.W. Bush and the USS Abraham Lincoln operating in the Arabian Sea, where the Navy has enforced a US blockade targeting vessels carrying oil or goods from Iranian ports.
The latest move comes after the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, which retaliated with strikes on Israel and other regional countries hosting US assets.
The US-Israeli operations killed more than 3,300 people, according to Iranian authorities, before Washington and Tehran announced a two-week ceasefire on April 8 mediated by Pakistan.
While originally scheduled to expire on April 22, US President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the truce on April 21 at the request of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Asim Munir.
