An American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is in the Red Sea, U.S. Naval Institute reported on Friday. The deployment is said to be a part of Washington's effort to prevent the Iran-backed Houthis' attack on vessels in the area, i24 reports.
"USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), the flagship of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, is in the Red Sea as part of U.S. efforts to prevent Houthi attacks on merchant ships, according to USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker," said U.S. Naval Institute.
Meanwhile, USS Gerald R. Ford is said to have headed back to the U.S. via the Atlantic as it withdrew from the Mediterranean. Earlier on Monday, the U.S. military was reported to bring its largest aircraft carrier strike group (CSG) back to its base in the state of Virginia.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower deployment comes as the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has kicked off his Middle Eastern tour in Turkey amid the multi-front tensions in the region that include Houthis' hostilities in the Red Sea region.
The joint statement from the governments of the U.S., Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and the UK, made earlier on Wednesday, read: "The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways."