US Deploys Aircraft Carriers as Iran's Revolutionary Guard Conducts Military Exercises in Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has commenced a series of military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported the drills ahead of negotiations with the United States.

As reported by AFP on Monday (16/2/2026), the war exercises, of unspecified duration, aim to prepare the Guard against “potential security and military threats” in the strait, state television said, after the US deployed a significant naval force to the region.

Iranian hardline politicians have repeatedly threatened to block the strait, a strategic waterway through which approximately 20 per cent of global oil production passes.

The exercises, overseen by Guard chief General Mohammad Pakpour, aim to enhance the IRGC’s ability to react swiftly, Iranian media reported. The Guard is the ideological wing of Iran’s military.

The drills are taking place as Tehran and Washington prepare for a new round of talks in Geneva on Tuesday (17/2), mediated by Oman.

The two nations, adversaries for four decades, resumed discussions on 6 February in Oman — the first since diplomacy stalled last June during the Iran-Israel war, which led to Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

US President Donald Trump, who has been pressuring Iran to reach a deal, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he described as an “armada”.

After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort warships to the Gulf in January, Trump said on Friday (13/2) that a second aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, would depart for the Middle East imminently.