The United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East - the "Carl Vinson" - as the next round of talks between Washington and Tehran on Iran's rapidly advancing nuclear program is prepared, satellite images analyzed by the "Associated Press" show.
"Carl Vinson" and its strike group are operating in the Arabian Sea alongside the aircraft carrier "Harry Truman", which is already participating in strikes against territories controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen. The United States is using the air campaign as leverage to pressure Iran over the talks, U.S. officials say.
The talks, whose location remains unspecified after initial indications of Rome, will continue over the weekend. Iran has said they will be held in Oman.
The stakes are high. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned that he will strike Iranian nuclear facilities if a deal is not reached. Tehran, for its part, is increasing uranium enrichment to near-military levels.
Nevertheless, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the first round of talks a "good start" and urged cautious optimism. "We should neither be too optimistic nor too pessimistic. "The first steps have been taken well," he said in Tehran on Tuesday.
US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who led the US delegation in the first round of talks, has suggested that a new agreement could build on the 2015 nuclear deal, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018.
Witkoff stressed that the US is insisting on strict monitoring not only of uranium enrichment levels but also of Iran's potential weapons program and ballistic missiles. "There is no need to enrich uranium beyond 3.67% - that is technically sufficient for civilian nuclear power. Anything above that is questionable," he told Fox News.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 60% - just one step below the weapons standard of 90%. On Tuesday, the Revolutionary Guard-affiliated Javan newspaper hinted that Tehran was ready for compromise: "Once we did it (limit enrichment), why not do it again if it leads to a deal?"
The naval group surrounding the "Carl Vinson" also includes the cruiser "Princeton" and two "Arleigh Burke"-class destroyers. U.S. Central Command released footage of the strikes on Houthi positions, saying the two aircraft carriers were conducting "24/7 air operations".