USS Gerald R Ford's planned deployment to the Middle East comes just days after US President Trump suggested another round of talks with the Iranians was at hand.
Those negotiations did not materialise as one of Tehran's top security officials visited Oman and Qatar this week and exchanged messages with the US intermediaries.
Already, Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict in a Middle East still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Iranians are beginning to hold 40-day mourning ceremonies for the thousands killed in Tehran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month, adding to the internal pressure faced by the sanctions-battered Islamic Republic.
The Ford's deployment, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region.
Already, the Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers are in the Arabian Sea.
It marks a quick turnaround for the Ford, which the US president sent from the Mediterranean Sea to the Caribbean last October as the administration built up a huge military presence in the lead-up to the surprise raid last month that captured then-Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
It also appears to be at odds with Trump's national security strategy, which put an emphasis on the western hemisphere over other parts of the world.
On Thursday, Trump warned Iran that failure to reach a deal with his administration would be "very traumatic".
Iran and the United States held indirect talks in Oman last week.
"I guess over the next month, something like that," Trump said in response to a question about his timeline for striking a deal with Iran on its nuclear program.
"It should happen quickly. They should agree very quickly."
Trump told Axios earlier this week that he was considering sending a second carrier strike group to the Middle East.
The US leader held lengthy talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and said he insisted to Israel's leader that negotiations with Iran needed to continue.
Netanyahu is urging the administration to press Tehran to scale back its ballistic missile program and end its support for militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah as part of any deal.
The Ford set out on deployment in late June 2025, which means the crew will have been deployed for eight months in two weeks time.
While it is unclear how long the ship will remain in the Middle East, the move sets the crew up for a long deployment.
