2nd US aircraft carrier being sent to the Middle East - media

WASHINGTON - The United States has ordered the second aircraft carrier to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East, local media reported on Thursday.

The move was taken as US President Donald Trump is weighing whether to take military action against Iran over its nuclear program or not.

Trump said on Tuesday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for a possible military action against Iran if negotiations fail.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and three guided-missile destroyers, which had arrived in the Middle East earlier.

Washington and Tehran held indirect talks on Feb 6 in the Omani capital Muscat amid simmering tensions between the two sides following Washington's military buildup near Iran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at celebrations in Tehran for the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday that a "wall of distrust" created by the West is hindering nuclear talks with the United States, vowing that Iran will never surrender to excessive demands and aggression.