(VOVworld) - The United States moved an aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf on Saturday, giving it far greater capacity to conduct airstrikes in northern Iraq against Islamist insurgents.

The USS George HW Bush is being positioned in the Persian Gulf as President Obama considers airstrikes in Iraq (Photo: ibtimes.com)

The Pentagon said that the USS George HW Bush was moving from the Arabian Sea into the Gulf accompanied by a guided-missile cruiser and a guided-missile destroyer. The deployment comes after President Barack Obama said on Friday the US was considering taking military action in Iraq to halt the rapid advance of Sunni militant group called “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that have taken control of a series of cities in the north of the country and are closing in on Baghdad. President Obama also revealed the possibility of launching airstrikes or bomb attacks to support the Iraqi government to deal with the ISIL’s attacks.