Iran Mocks US as USS Abraham Lincoln Weighs Anchor
The United States’ flagship aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, has departed the Middle East, drawing mockery from Iran. The carrier has been replaced by USS George Washington, with the withdrawal attributed to the dire condition of the ship and its crew.
In a statement via social media platform X, US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, announced that USS George Washington and its strike group were operating in the Middle East to replace USS Abraham Lincoln. “The George Washington Carrier Strike Group is operating in the Middle East on a scheduled deployment after arriving in the CENTCOM area of operations yesterday,” CENTCOM said on Thursday local time.
The deployment of USS George Washington to the Middle East was ordered by US President Donald Trump days after media reports emerged about poor conditions aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, which had been deployed since November 2025 in the South China Sea before being diverted to the Middle East. The media reports caused unwanted disruption for Trump amid his efforts to promote the war against Iran, which has lacked domestic support in the United States.
USS Abraham Lincoln had been deployed to the Middle East during the war Trump has waged against Iran since late February. The extended deployment drew criticism among politicians in Washington DC, with the US carrier reported to have sailed for more than 240 days at sea, 200 of which were without transit or stopping at any port.
A US official confirmed the departure of the Lincoln, which had previously been mentioned by Admiral Brad Cooper, head of CENTCOM, in an opinion article about Abraham Lincoln published in The Wall Street Journal. “Fair winds and following seas, and enjoy a reunion you have certainly earned,” Cooper wrote, as quoted by The New York Times.
USS Abraham Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and had since supported US military operations against Iran, including a naval blockade of Tehran’s ports and ships. A report released last week by Military Times and Stars & Stripes described various problems aboard the US carrier, including damage to the water system, sanitation issues, shortages of fresh food supplies, and limited opportunities for sailors to go ashore.
Families of US military personnel assigned to USS Abraham Lincoln have expressed concern about their mental health. Several reports indicated that some personnel attempted to jump overboard. Conditions on the carrier became a focus in Washington DC, with 13 Democratic members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee writing to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to demand an explanation regarding the duration of the deployment and the conditions faced by personnel on the ship.
Hegseth dismissed various reports about the poor conditions on the carrier, calling them “mischaracterised”. Trump ignored the concerns raised and, when asked about the duration of the deployment, replied: “Nowhere near long enough.”
Iran reacted to the departure of USS Abraham Lincoln, saying the exhausted crew showed the US had failed in its show of force. “The United States sent USS Abraham Lincoln to the region to show force,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. He said the US carrier had failed in its mission. USS Abraham Lincoln is now sailing towards Thai waters. “After months of war and more than 200 days without a single port call, the ship is now sailing to Thailand for rest and recovery of its crew,” he said.