The United States is sending the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group toward the Middle East, a deployment that could add 9,000 to 10,000 personnel as President Donald Trump weighs resuming attacks on Iran after the midterm elections. The forces are scheduled to arrive around late November and would join more than 50,000 US troops already in the region. The USS George H.W. Bush and USS George Washington are already deployed alongside the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group. It remains uncertain whether three carriers will operate in the region for an extended period because the Roosevelt could replace the Japan-based George Washington. Washington has paired the military buildup with diplomatic and economic pressure. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other Iranian delegates to leave New York after talks during the United Nations General Assembly reached an impasse. The Treasury Department subsequently targeted Iran's automobile and railway sectors, related companies and overseas procurement networks. Iranian military planners are considering a wider response should the US resume large-scale attacks, including strikes on US facilities, countries supporting US operations and targets beyond the Middle East, Reuters reported. Tensions have also been heightened by allegations of an Iranian link to the Flydubai Flight FZ1073 incident and by exchanges between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis. Crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz averaged about 16.5 million barrels a day last month, nearing prewar levels.