The aircraft carrier USS Bush is off the coast of Africa, making its way to the Middle East The USS George H.W. Bush and its crew of nearly 5,000 sailors and aviators is not using the traditional route taken by East Coast ships to reach the Middle East, a Navy official confirmed. USNI initially reported that the Norfolk-based carrier was moving around Africa to be part of the U.S. operation against Iran. To reach the Middle East, Navy ships from Norfolk typically go through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. Since the U.S. attacked Iran in late February, most of the focus has been on the Strait of Hormuz, where 20%of the world’s oil passes through. The coast of Yemen is another choke point, where Houthi Rebels, backed by Iran, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea during the last couple of years. While initially quiet, the Houthis fired missiles toward Israel in March. The longer route around Africa avoids the area. Before the ship left Norfolk on March 31, Rear Adm. Alexis Walker, who is in charge of the Bush Carrier Strike Group, would not say when the carrier was expected to arrive in the Middle East or even where the ship was being directed. The situation in Iran has been fluid since the beginning of the conflict in late February, with Iran shutting down the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the U.S. and Israel began their bombing campaign. At the moment, the United States has 10,000 troops,12 ships and more than 100 planes participating in the blockade, which began Monday, according to U.S. Central Command. More ships are expected to arrive in the region, including minesweepers, as the Navy tries to escort commercial ships and tankers through the contested waterway. When it arrives, USS Bush will be the third carrier in the region. USS Abraham Lincoln has been stationed well off the coast of Iran. Norfolk-based USS Gerald R. Ford remains in the region on its potentially record-setting deployment. Navy officials have said it will not return home until at least May. The carrier left June 24, 2025. It has been resupplied and received repairs after a fire in the laundry room displaced at least 600 sailors. The carrier remains in the Eastern Mediterranean days after leaving Croatia.
The aircraft carrier USS Bush is off the coast of Africa, making its way to the Middle East The USS George H.W. Bush and its crew of nearly 5,000 sailors and aviators is not using the traditional route taken by East Coast ships to reach the Middle East, a Navy official confirmed.…
See this event through different lenses
Compare how Western, Iranian, Israeli, Global South, and Pro-Peace perspectives frame this event.
Compare PerspectivesLoading notes...
A tanker identified as the Kaifan was struck by an unknown projectile northeast of Oman’s Limah in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a July 21 report from UK Maritime Trade Operations. No ships were observed transiting the strait that day. Attribution of the strike and links to prior incidents have not been confirmed by the vessel’s owner.
Goldman Sachs has projected Brent crude averaging $80 per barrel in the fourth quarter and $75 in the following year, conditional on reduced Middle East tensions, while noting upside risks from potential shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz or Red Sea.
Brent prices rose above $91 per barrel amid recent U.S.-Iran exchanges and Houthi threats to Saudi shipments before edging lower on Tuesday. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that mediators had proposed a 10-day ceasefire to preserve an interim agreement.
Opening summary: Iran claims attacks on strait of Hormuz ships amid fresh US strikes Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East crisis. Iran attacked a tanker in the strait of Hormuz early on Tuesday, forcing its crew to abandon the ship, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced they were imposing an immediate maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea after the two sides traded fire last week for the first time in years.
A Houthi official said the Bab al-Mandeb strait – at the southern end of the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s trade usually passes – would be closed to the Saudis in response to the kingdom’s “unjust blockade on Yemenis for over 10 years”.
Saudi Arabia said it would take “all necessary measures to protect its vessels in accordance with international law”. A 10 consecutive night of US airstrikes has not compelled Tehran to loosen its grip on the strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global energy supplies.
But even as Iran’s president said the country had returned “full-scale war”, the Iranian interior minister travelled to Pakistan – a key mediator in the conflict – for talks. In key developments: The latest US strikes came hours after Donald Trump said Iran would pay “many times over” for killing US soldiers after multiple service members were killed in action over the weekend.
A tanker came under attack early Tuesday in the Hormuz strait off Oman, forcing the crew to abandon the vessel, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack as well as two other attacks on ships in the waterway on Monday.
The US military’s Central Command said its latest airstrikes were to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the strait and included hitting military command centres and missile and drone launch sites. Iranian media reported strikes in parts of the country including Bandar Abbas, Tabriz and Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational civilian nuclear power.
Iran’s launched attacks in response against Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, which all host US forces. Oil prices softened after hitting their highest levels in more than a month in the previous session. Brent crude futures eased 0.4% to $88.87 a barrel by 0052 GMT on Tuesday while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was steady at $82.
47 a barrel. Democrats have seized on the deaths of three US troops killed in Iranian strikes to urge Trump to urgently reverse his resumption of the war with Iran amid widespread anxiety over climbing casualties. The Lebanese army began taking charge of security in three southern villages, the US said, as a deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faced its first test on the ground.
US forces struck the tanker Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10, killing three Indian crew members when munitions hit the engine room and adjacent areas. Maritime tracking data indicate the vessel had transported Iranian oil under US sanctions for several years and conducted offshore transfers prior to the strike.
The US military described the action as a precision operation, while reports note the ship was stationary at the time.