USS Abraham Lincoln home after record 321-day deployment

After a record 321 days away, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier sailed back into San Diego on Thursday, having taken part in the war on Iran.

The carrier docked at Naval Air Station North Island, its home port. During the deployment, it spent 265 days in a row at sea without stopping at any port, setting a new Navy record.

Hegseth honours the crew

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth boarded the ship at sea on Wednesday. He gave the crew the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honour for a military unit, recognising their role in Operation Epic Fury. The strike group, he told sailors, had achieved what “no other carrier strike group has ever done.”

Hegseth also rejected what he called efforts to paint the USS Abraham Lincoln as “a symbol of dysfunction.” He dismissed claims of low morale too. During the summer, reports surfaced of the ship running short of food and basic goods. They also spoke of sagging morale and mental strain among sailors. Two sailors, the reports said, had tried to leap into the sea.

The ship has a complement of 5,000 sailors and Marines. It left San Diego last November for the Pacific. However, the Navy sent it to the Middle East after the war on Iran began on February 28.

USS Abraham Lincoln returns as Iran options grow

The return comes as the Pentagon readies fresh options against Iran. According to US media reports citing officials, planners have drawn up an intense three-day campaign. It would target Iranian missile and drone stocks, energy facilities and military sites. Vice President JD Vance reportedly chaired talks on the plans at Camp David last Friday.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has restocked much of that arsenal since the opening phase of the war, according to the reports. Other possible targets include command posts and headquarters of the force. Even so, Trump has turned down several proposals to restart major combat in recent months.

Trump said on Thursday that no US attack on Iran would come before the November 3 midterms. He also said the two sides were holding “productive discussions.” Even so, three US carriers should be operating in the Middle East within weeks.

On Thursday, the Treasury Department also sanctioned 17 ships it tied to the Iranian shadow fleet. Those vessels, it said, had moved millions of barrels of Iranian crude, petroleum and petrochemicals. Their cargoes went to buyers in South and East Asian markets. “No enabler of Iranian sanctions evasion is safe,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

In Turkmenistan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told a regional summit that peace talks could only work without pressure and threats. Dialogue succeeds, he said, when it rests on mutual respect.

Iran also insists its forces remain ready. A defence ministry spokesman said weapons output had risen 2.5 times in the seven months after the war began. He compared that with the same period before the fighting. For the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln, however, the long deployment is finally over.