US top West Asia commander visits deployed aircraft carrier

Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the West Asia, visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a 10-day tour in the region that concluded on Saturday, US Central Command said.

Israel said its strikes in southern Lebanon, which killed at least 11 people, targeted two Hezbollah commanders. And a Hamas delegation is in Cairo on Sunday for Gaza ceasefire-related talks with Egyptian officials.

Admiral Cooper visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed aircraft carrier. The Lincoln arrived in the West Asia in January and has been supporting the US war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days.

Extended deployments of carriers, which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board, have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members.

“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday.

Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement.

The US Navy’s blockade was in response to Iran’s asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war started on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before then.

Talks between the US and Iran have stalled while Iran is in discussions with Oman about how to manage the strait that runs between them and had been considered an international waterway.