For Serbian energy importers and drivers, this news is not distant: the price of crude oil is set on exchanges that react first to any incident in the Strait of Hormuz. A US official confirmed to Al Jazeera on October 2 that a third aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, is sailing toward Iran, together with the Makin Island amphibious group carrying more than 2,000 Marines.
According to the official, the carrier strike group left its base in San Diego on Sunday, and the amphibious group followed a day later. By the end of November, three carriers and two amphibious groups should be around Iran, as the war enters its eighth month. Sources disagree on when the ships departed: Al Jazeera and Turkiye Today write about Sunday, while The Media Line, citing the Wall Street Journal, says they sailed in early October.
What is already in the region, and what is arriving?
Currently in the region:
the carrier USS George H.W. Bush
the carrier USS George Washington, which replaced the USS Abraham Lincoln in August
the amphibious group USS Boxer
About 20 Navy ships are also operating there as escorts, and more than 50,000 American troops are already in the region. The size of the reinforcement is counted differently. The Media Line, citing the Wall Street Journal, reports about 7,000 sailors and 2,000 to 3,000 Marines, while Turkiye Today writes about 9,000 sailors and Marines combined, including members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The same outlet notes that the Roosevelt’s arrival would mean three carriers in the region, a level last reached in April, and before this year in 2003, during the invasion of Iraq.