US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, visited the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln as it was operating in the Arabian Sea on Saturday after meeting with Iranian officials in Oman the day before.
Trump deployed the US aircraft carrier and its strike group to prepare for a potential attack on Iran, and Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to the US warship signals to Iran that the threat of a US bombing campaign is still very real despite the diplomatic engagement.
Video released by US Central Command shows Witkoff and Kushner standing on the flight deck of the Lincoln next to Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, as aircraft take off. An F-35 fighter jet from the Lincoln shot down an Iranian drone in the Arabian Sea on February 3.
While maintaining its threat to bomb Iran, the US has also ramped up the economic pressure by imposing new Iran-related sanctions, the same day Witkoff and Kushner met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. The sanctions targeted ships and companies the US accused of transporting Iranian oil.
Ahead of the talks in Oman, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent boasted that the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran collapsed the country’s economy and sparkedthe protest and unrest that began at the end of December.
Any diplomatic deal with Iran would need to include sanctions relief, but it’s unclear if an agreement will be reached, as Israel is pushing for the maximalist position, which is designed to sabotage the talks and ensure war.
