The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group left its San Diego base on Sunday, bound for the region, a US official told Al Jazeera. The same official said the Makin Island Marine Expeditionary Force followed a day later, carrying more than 2,000 Marines [E1].
Al Jazeera, citing a US official, said the United States is deploying a third US aircraft carrier to the waters around Iran as the war enters its eighth month and both sides weigh escalation and diplomatic engagement [E2]. The San Diego sailing that official dated to Sunday is that third carrier in Al Jazeera's account, not the opening hull of the war [E1][E2].
A US official told The National on Thursday that the USS Theodore Roosevelt is on its way to Central Command's area of operations, which spans the Middle East [E3]. Thursday's on-the-way line and Al Jazeera's Sunday departure are two clocks on the same hull [E1][E3].
The National's lead said the US is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs ramping up military action against Iran [E4]. Al Jazeera's official had both sides weighing escalation and diplomatic engagement; The National put the weighing on the president, and on a ramp-up of military action [E2][E4].
Leaving San Diego is not arriving in waters around Iran, and Makin Island is named as Marine lift behind the carrier, not as a second carrier [E1][E2]. The third-carrier count does not say whether Roosevelt adds a hull around Iran or relieves one already there [E2][E4].