Tehran source: Iran prepares major fighting as carrier sails
A Tehran source told The National on Saturday that Iran is preparing a “major round of fighting” with the United States as Hormuz talks stall. The USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group is en route with up to about 10,000 personnel. Drivers already paying war-inflated diesel now face another week of escalation risk.
Iran is preparing for a “major round of fighting,” a source in Tehran told The National on Saturday, as New York diplomacy failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and Washington weighs its next military steps. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned of an “apocalyptic” fight if needed. The source said Tehran understands the U.S. military option remains live and that Iran “has the capabilities” to answer.
A U.S. official told The National a third carrier strike group — the USS Theodore Roosevelt — is headed into U.S. Central Command’s Middle East area. The New York Post, citing the Wall Street Journal, reported the group left San Diego on Sunday with roughly 9,000 to 10,000 sailors and Marines and is expected to arrive in November, joining the USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington already in the region. Al Jazeera framed the same carrier-and-troop move as possible escalation after midterms. Trump rejected Iran’s seven-day Hormuz cease-fire package last week and has talked of renewed strikes after the November election.
Sequencing is the live dispute: Iranian accounts say Tehran wants U.S. steps before fully reopening Hormuz and has floated diluting then transferring 60% enriched uranium under IAEA-linked mechanisms; Washington wants the waterway open first. Bab al-Mandeb remains quieter so far, though the Tehran source said that does not mean later action is off the table. Oil and diesel prices still set the household stake in U.S. pump lines and freight bills. Watch Camp David follow-through, any Hormuz volume prints, and whether post-midterm strike talk hardens into orders.
What we know:
Tehran source says Iran is preparing major fighting; TR strike group is en route; Hormuz diplomacy remains stalled after failed New York talks.
What we don’t:
Whether Iran will accept a U.S. counterproposal, the exact November force posture once TR arrives, or any set date for resumed major combat.
Where outlets agree The National, NY Post, and Al Jazeera agree Hormuz diplomacy is stalled and a third U.S. carrier strike group with thousands of personnel is moving toward the Middle East.
Where they differ Accounts split on sequencing — Hormuz reopen first versus U.S. concessions first — and on how soon any renewed major combat would begin.