The US Navy Monday deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Arabian Gulf region amid rising tensions with Iran over its nuclear program. The deployment of the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise with the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group marks only the fourth time in the past decade that the US Navy has had two aircraft carriers operating at the same time in the Arabian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, said Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. The two US carriers will support the American military operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy efforts off Somalia's coast and in the Gulf of Aden, said Derrick-Frost. The US warships also patrol the Gulf's strategic oil routes that Iran has threatened to shut down in retaliation for economic sanctions. Ahead of Friday's talks with world powers in Istanbul, Iran's nuclear chief has signaled that Tehran's envoys may bring a compromise offer to the talks: Promising to eventually stop producing its most highly enriched uranium, while not totally abandoning its ability to make nuclear fuel. The US and others have raised serious concerns about Iran's production and stockpile of uranium enriched to 20 percent, which could be turned into weapons-grade strength in a matter of months. But the proposal described by Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, may not go far enough to satisfy the West.
