The US aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush has been ordered to move into the Arabian Gulf by US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Anadolu agency reported.
The vessel will move from the North Arabian Sea and, if any military options are required, the US Commander-in-Chief had the scope "to protect American lives, citizens and interests in Iraq", Pentagon secretary John Kirby said on Saturday.
A US Defense Department statement read: "The USS George H.W. Bush departed her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, in February of this year and is operating in the Middle East region as part of an on-going rotation of forward-deployed forces to support maritime security operations."
"The ships are expected to complete their transit into the Gulf later this evening."
The deployment comes as tensions continue to rise in Iraq after Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants gained control in the Iraqi city of Mosul and other three provinces.