US aircraft carrier in the Middle East is heading home

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished. U.S. officials say the USS Theodore Roosevelt is heading home. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered the Roosevelt to extend its deployment for a short time and remain in the region as the USS Abraham Lincoln was pushed to get to the area more quickly. The Biden administration beefed up the U.S. military presence in the Middle East to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and to safeguard U.S. troops.