Royal Navy flagship HMS Prince of Wales is being kept at a state of high readiness, but no decision has been taken to deploy her, Downing Street has said.
Reports emerged at the weekend saying her readiness had been reduced from 14 days to five, prompting speculation that she could sail to the region to protect Britons and UK interests amid the war between the US, Israel and Iran.
However, the Prime Minister's official spokesman denied this was the case.
"HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness," he said.
"The MOD is increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment, but there is no decision taken to deploy her."
Extra defences have been put into the Middle East since January, including F-35s, Typhoons, air defence systems and counter-drone teams.
Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon is currently being prepared for her deployment from Portsmouth to the Mediterranean this week.
Two Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters have arrived at RAF Akrotiri, These aircraft are armed with Martlet missiles which should provide an solid and cost-effective counter to any incoming aerial threats.
A Merlin helicopter has also arrived equipped with a Crowsnest surveillance and control system.
Chief of the Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton said "we were well set with our posture that's been built up over several weeks".
He said he was "enormously proud of the work of the Royal Navy, who have been working night and day" to get HMS Dragon ready with munitions and stores on board and get her out of her state of maintenance.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We have been bolstering our UK military presence in the Middle East since January, and we have already deployed capabilities to protect British people and our allies in the region, including Typhoons, F-35 jets, air defence systems and an extra 400 personnel into Cyprus.
"Since the strikes began, we've had British jets in the sky shooting down drowns and have sent additional assets to the region to further reinforce our air defences, including more Typhoons and Wildcat helicopters with drone-busting missiles.
"HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness and we are increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment."
Over the weekend, the MOD confirmed the US had started using British bases for "specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region" after American bombers landed at RAF Fairford.
A 146ft B-1 Lancer bomber arrived in Gloucestershire on Friday, and three more followed on Saturday.
RAF Typhoon and F-35 jets are continuing air operations over Jordan, Qatar and Cyprus.
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