United States builds military presence near Iran amid shipping strikes

The United States has deployed two aircraft carriers to the Arabian Sea while tanker sorties over the region are running 50 percent above the rate recorded in September, Euronews reported. United States President Donald Trump has not ruled out intensified strikes following the midterm elections in November. The military movement comes as officials on both sides issue public warnings regarding a potential return to large scale hostilities. [1]

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Iran targeted at least 24 commercial vessels near the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week period, Euronews reported. Additionally, the Royal Navy body Britain's Maritime Trade Operations reported at least seven further maritime incidents occurring between Monday and Wednesday. [1]

The escalation follows earlier diplomatic efforts between the two nations. In 2025 and 2026, Iran and the United States held negotiations seeking a nuclear peace agreement after Donald Trump sent a letter to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei with a 60-day deadline. After that deadline passed without an agreement in June 2025, Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, initiating the Twelve-Day War. The diplomacy later included talks that led to the Islamabad Memorandum. [3]

The military build-up in the region comes alongside potential global shifts in United States force deployments. As FTMQ News reported earlier, United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated that some American service members could be redeployed from Europe to the Western Hemisphere to support an intensified military campaign against drug cartels in South America. [5]