The Pentagon is drawing up plans to deploy a third aircraft carrier to the Iran theatre, with officials confirming the USS Gerald R. Ford is on standby to join the growing US armada in the Eastern Mediterranean and Arabian Sea, defence sources say.

With the USS Abraham Lincoln and another carrier already launching sorties against Iranian targets and protecting shipping lanes, the arrival of the Ford—the world’s most advanced flattop—would mark the most concentrated US carrier presence in the region in years.

Leaked briefing slides circulating in Washington describe the move as a “strategic hammer,” allowing around‑the‑clock F‑35 and F/A‑18 operations from three directions, while cruise‑missile destroyers and submarines tighten the noose on Iran’s missile and drone network.

Tehran has warned that any attempt to “encircle” Iran with carrier groups will be met with long‑range anti‑ship missiles and drone swarms aimed at “turning floating airbases into burning scrap.” Hard‑line outlets are already mocking the US plan as “sending more targets, not more power.”

European allies are split: some quietly welcome the extra muscle as insurance for Gulf energy flows; others fear that stacking carriers off Iran’s coast creates a hair‑trigger environment where a single miscalculation could drag NATO deeper into a war it never voted for.

As the Ford’s crew braces for possible deployment orders, one question now hangs over capitals from Washington to Tehran: will a third supercarrier restore deterrence—or tip a tense standoff into the very clash it was meant to prevent?