The San Diego-based USS Carl Vinson has arrived in Mideast waters and is launching air strikes on Houthi rebels ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

The Associated Press cited satellite photos taken Monday by the European Union’s Copernicus program showing the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier operating northeast of Socotra, an island off Yemen that sits near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden.