In a satellite image taken on Monday, November 27, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower can be seen cruising about 120 kilometers northeast of Qatar and 100 kilometers south of Iran. An image of a plane that appeared to be approaching for landing was also captured.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier was positioned this week within the Persian Gulf, just 62 miles (100 kilometers) off the coast of Iran. It was sent last month to the Middle East as a deterrent to Hezbollah and its patron, Iran, from opening another front against Israel.
The Eisenhower transited the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday and entered the Persian Gulf after setting sail from the United States last month and participating in a major exercise with the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier in the eastern Mediterranean. From there, it continued south through the Red Sea and crossed Bab el-Mandeb, off the coast of Yemen, to the Arabian Sea.
Besides the carrier and its dozens of fighter jets, the Eisenhower strike group includes a guided-missile cruiser, two guided-missile destroyers, and an advanced submarine. Hundreds of cruise missiles, capable of hitting anywhere in Iran, are included in the Eisenhower’s arsenal.
Another carrier, the USS Mason, stayed behind in the Arabian Sea to help counter an attempted takeover of the “Central Park” tanker. The tanker is owned by a British company owned by Eyal Ofer, a prominent Israeli businessman, and was attacked in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday.
This was the third attack this month against ships owned by Israeli businessmen off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Last week, Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen hijacked a ship owned by Rami Ungar before it was taken to Yemen’s Hodeida Port.
On Friday, another one, owned by Israeli businessman Idan Ofer, was reportedly targeted in the Indian Ocean by an Iranian drone. The ship, which sailed from Dubai, was lightly damaged and positioned off the coast of Sri Lanka on its way to East Asia.
The USS Eisenhower and the USS Ford are part of a recent widespread US deployment throughout the region. Hundreds of heavy transport flights have moved personnel, armaments, equipment, and air defense systems to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to repel threats posed by Iran and its proxies.
Iran-backed proxies have attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria at least 73 times since the outbreak of the war on October 7, according to a Pentagon spokesperson. These attacks stopped when the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on Friday.
Khalil Wakim.
