Why rough-field capability did not make the MiG-23 a carrier fighter

Was the MiG-23 designed for carrier operations, and for which Soviet carrier?

The claim is doubtful in this assessment: rough-strip capability made a naval derivative conceivable, but no carrier-specific design requirement or intended carrier is identified.

The MiG-23's rough-strip capability is the basis for the proposed carrier connection. That feature could make a naval adaptation conceivable without proving a carrier requirement shaped the aircraft. Soviet discussion of carriers had continued for years before the ships were built, so a MiG-23 derivative could have appeared among those ideas. No intended carrier is identified, and a carrier version's status as a serious design objective remains doubtful in this assessment.