Carrier Theodore Roosevelt Leaves San Diego for Arabian Sea, Trump Confirms Iran Mediator Contact

MIDDLE EAST — The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), flagship of Carrier Strike Group 9, left Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego on September 27 bound for the Arabian Sea station Adm. Daryl Caudle, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, named on August 31.

Caudle told sailors at a Fort Meade, Maryland, town hall that Roosevelt would take station in the Arabian Sea so USS George Washington, the Japan-based Pacific carrier then covering the Iran conflict, could return to its Pacific role.

The destination on the public record for the USS Theodore Roosevelt remains the Arabian Sea assignment Caudle stated in August, not a newly issued combat task from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

What Happened

• USS Theodore Roosevelt left San Diego on September 27 for the Arabian Sea station named in August (see carrier section below).

• U.S. President Donald Trump said on September 28 that U.S. and Iranian negotiators passed messages through mediators and that the United States would win the war.

• U.S. Central Command stated on September 28 that Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari’s claim of full Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz through Iran’s navy was false, that U.S. forces had sunk that navy, and that thousands of ships and more than 1 billion barrels of oil had passed in recent months.

• Sayyari, deputy chief of the Iranian Army for coordination affairs, speaking to Iranian state-affiliated Mehr News Agency on September 28, said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy held the western strait, the strait itself, and the Persian Gulf, and that the army navy held the eastern strait and the northern Indian Ocean.

• The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) Update 100, information cut-off 3:00 PM UTC September 27, kept the Strait of Hormuz at SEVERE, listed no confirmed vessel incident since the prior note, and recorded 89 U.S.-facilitated strait transits from September 24 through September 26.

• A source close to Iran’s United Nations delegation told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on September 27 that the delegation had no plan for a new round of talks with the United States and that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would return home on Tuesday, September 29, after scheduled programs. No Iranian notice that the departure had occurred was published by the afternoon of September 29.

• Col. Majed Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, spokesman for the internationally recognized Yemeni government’s armed forces based in Aden, said on September 28 that Aden-based forces carried out 356 operations in 24 hours and gave a field estimate of 476 Houthi fighters killed or wounded.

• In a different action the same day, Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea, spokesman for the Houthi-run armed forces in Sanaa, said Saudi aircraft and missiles conducted 38 strikes in 24 hours on Taiz, Saada, and Hajjah.

Locations Affected

• Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, United States: 32.70, -117.19. Departure point for the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on September 27.

• Arabian Sea: 14.50, 65.00. Destination U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle assigned Roosevelt on August 31, the Iran-theater carrier station the ship is sailing to relieve.

• Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman: 26.57, 56.25. Subject of the September 28 control claims by Iranian Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari and U.S. Central Command, and of Joint Maritime Information Center Update 100 dated September 27.

• New York, United States: 40.75, -73.97. Site of the September mediator track and of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s remaining presence after the General Assembly session.

• Taiz Governorate, Yemen: 13.58, 44.02. Named in the Aden-based 24-hour operations list and in Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea’s September 28 strike tally.

Official Statements

• Esmaeil Baqaei, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, September 28: “the minister will proceed according to the previously planned schedule.”

• U.S. Central Command, September 28: “CLAIM: A senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said today that Iran has full control over the Strait of Hormuz through Iran’s “navy.” This is FALSE. FACT: Iran has no navy because American forces sank it. And Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz as evidenced by the thousands of ships that have passed through freely along with more than 1 billion barrels of oil just over the past few months.”

• Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, deputy chief of the Iranian Army for coordination affairs, September 28: “The West of the Strait of Hormuz, the very Strait itself, and the Persian Gulf are under the complete control of the IRGC Navy Force, while the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz and northern Indian Ocean are under the complete control of the Army Navy.” “We are operating decisively in the northern Sea of Oman and east of the Strait of Hormuz, and we do not allow anyone to pass.” “The reality is that the Strait of Hormuz is under our complete control of the Iranian Armed Forces.”

• Col. Majed Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces (Aden), September 28: “Our forces carried out 356 precise targeting operations during the past 24 hours against reinforcements and military capabilities belonging to the terrorist Houthi militia.”

• Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea, spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces (Sanaa), September 28: “conducted 38 air and missile strikes during the past 24 hours” and “since the escalation began” the total “had reached 1,123.”

• Adm. Daryl Caudle, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, August 31: “So as the [USS] Theodore Roosevelt comes into theater, you know, making sure that we have supply parts, basically our Class 1, which is our food, basically our Class 6, which is maybe like things like hygiene products, and, of course, things that we need to make sure you sustain that aircraft carrier and the destroyers that are with that aircraft carrier more fully.”