SPLIT / TEHRAN / BAGHDAD, March 28 (V7N) — The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier and a key asset in US–Israeli operations against Iran, arrived in the Croatian port city of Split on Saturday for what the US embassy described as a scheduled maintenance stop. AFP journalists saw the vessel entering port days after it left a naval base in Crete, where it had returned following a laundry-room fire that injured two sailors and damaged around 100 beds.

The Ford’s withdrawal from the Middle East — after nearly nine months at sea — leaves a temporary gap in US naval presence. The carrier, along with the USS Abraham Lincoln, has played a central role in the air campaign launched on February 28, which killed Iran’s supreme leader and triggered a regional war.

Civilian casualties mount in Iran

As the Ford docked in Europe, Iranian media reported fresh US–Israeli strikes on multiple residential areas overnight, killing more than a dozen people. In Borujerd, in Lorestan province, seven people were killed and 36 wounded, according to Fars news agency. In Zanjan, at least five deaths were reported. AFP could not independently verify the tolls.

Explosions also rocked Tehran, damaging buildings at the Iran University of Science and Technology. Meanwhile, rescuers in Kermanshah continued pulling bodies from rubble after earlier strikes killed at least 13 people. Iran has not issued an updated nationwide death toll since March 8, when officials reported more than 1,200 fatalities, a figure that remains unverified.

Iraq drawn deeper into conflict

The United States and Iraq announced plans to “intensify cooperation” to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults on US personnel or facilities. The move comes as pro‑Iran Iraqi factions have stepped up drone and rocket strikes on US targets, including the embassy in Baghdad.

A new High Joint Coordination Committee will oversee security efforts, both sides said. Relations have been strained by a strike on a medical clinic in western Iraq that killed seven security personnel — an attack Baghdad protested, though Washington denies involvement.

Iraq this week also granted the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) permission to “confront and respond” to attacks after 15 of its fighters were killed in an airstrike. Hours later, an explosion was heard near Erbil airport, home to US military advisers. Meanwhile, Kataeb Hezbollah, a powerful Tehran‑backed faction, extended its pause on attacks against US forces, a halt first announced on March 19.

END/WD/RH/