Following Trump’s warning, 10,000 troops and a third aircraft carrier are headed to the Middle East.

Following US President Donald Trump‘s warning to Iran about potential further strikes following the midterm elections on November 3, the United States is deploying a third aircraft carrier and an additional 9,000–10,000 troops to the Middle East.

By the end of November, the service members would be transported to the Middle East by the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group. The USS George HW Bush and the USS George Washington are two other aircraft carriers currently based in the area. The USS George Washington is typically stationed in the Pacific Ocean, but after a protracted deployment, it arrived in the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

With hundreds of planes and over 20,000 sailors and Marines, the deployment would increase the US naval presence to an unprecedented level. Iran made a peace proposal last week at the UN General Assembly in New York, but Trump rejected it. Iran claimed that mediators from Qatar sent the idea to the United States.

“They want to make a deal to open the Hormuz Strait immediately because they’re losing so badly,” Trump told reporters at the White House. While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump also suggested that Iran is linked to the co-pilot who stabbed the captain and tried to crash an Israel-bound flight.

When asked if there was a connection between the pilot who attacked the captain and Iran, Trump said, “I would say the answer, based on what I’m hearing, is ‘yes,’ but we’re working on it right now.” On whether the US would retaliate against Iran if it was responsible for the attack, Trump replied, “Oh, they’ll be hit very hard, don’t worry.”

The reporter then asked if the man might have been placed on the plane by the IRGC, or radicalised in some other way before deciding to bring the aircraft down. “Could have been, yeah,” Trump replied.