WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that an additional "armada" of US military vessels is sailing toward Iran, expressing hope that Iran will agree to a deal.

"There's another beautiful armada floating beautifully toward Iran right now, so we'll see," Trump said at a rally in the midwestern US state of Iowa.

"I hope they make a deal," Trump added, "They should have made a deal the first time they'd have a country."

One day earlier, USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the Middle East amid tensions over Iran's unrest, the US Central Command said on X.

It is not immediately clear if Trump is referring to the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group or another carrier strike group.