ISTANBUL

The USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships, currently in the Caribbean, will be redeployed to the Middle East and are unlikely to return home until late April or early May, according to the New York Times.

Four US officials, speaking to the newspaper on condition of anonymity, said the ship’s crew was notified of the decision on Thursday.

The Ford strike group will join the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf to support US President Donald Trump’s intensified pressure on Iran.

Trump had previously called for a second carrier in the region, though the ship was not specified.

The US president warned last month that a massive “armada” was heading toward Iran, urging Tehran to reach an agreement or "the next attack will be far worse."

Trump said the fleet approaching Iran, led by the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, is larger than the one previously sent to Venezuela and described it as “ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.”

The USS Gerald R. Ford left Norfolk, Va., on June 24 for a deployment that was originally planned as a European tour, but it was rerouted to the Caribbean to support Trump’s campaign of pressure on Venezuela.

The Ford’s aircraft was involved in the Jan. 3 operation in Venezuela that resulted in President Nicolas Maduro’s capture.

Originally scheduled to return in early March, the strike group’s deployment has now been extended. The latest delay will put Ford’s planned dry dock period in Virginia, set for major repairs and upgrades, at risk, according to the report.