U.S. military pushes more weaponry into the Middle East for possible strikes on Iran
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The buildup of military hardware comes as the U.S. and Iran are still pursuing diplomatic talks that could help avert a conflict. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi noted "good progress" after indirect talks with Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Geneva on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that "there was some progress made" in the talks but that "there are still a lot of details to discuss."
The prospect of a breakthrough looked remote with the sides far apart on fundamental issues. The Trump administration has insisted that Iran agree to restrictions on its missile program, as well as its nuclear work, which Tehran so far has rejected as out of the question.
Trump's top national security advisers huddled in the Situation Room of the White House on Wednesday to discuss Iran, according to a senior administration official. No final decisions about potential military action have been made, the official said, as the U.S. awaits a written response from Iran that could address some of the outstanding areas of disagreement.
Meanwhile, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the second aircraft carrier that Trump is sending to the Middle East, and its accompanying ships are steaming across the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, according to U.S. officials. They are expected there in the coming days, and a nuclear submarine remains in the Mediterranean.
When they arrive, they will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and the attendant ships that form its carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf, according to U.S. officials.
A number of other ships are also in the region, including at least three littoral combat ships, a guided missile destroyer in the Red Sea and two guided missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the ship tracker at the U.S. Naval Institute.
Top Iranian officials have warned many times in recent years that they will militarily block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane that handles about 20% of global oil supply, if the country is attacked. Iranian state media reported Tuesday that parts of the Strait of Hormuz would close for a few hours because of "security precautions" while Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conducts military drills there.
The aircraft carriers and accompanying warships allow the U.S. to conduct an attack on Iran without having to draw on U.S. aircraft stationed in Arab Gulf states. Those governments, fearing retaliation from Iran's missile arsenal, have said they will not allow offensive operations to be launched from their territories.
It is still unclear whether any attack on Iran would involve the U.S. military alone or joint operations with the Israeli military.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to travel to Israel on Feb. 28 to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a State Department official.
Netanyahu, who visited Washington last week, is nervous about the status of the ongoing Iran negotiations, and Rubio is going to provide him with an update, a second State Department official said. Israel opposed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement during his first term.
At the height of street protests against the Iranian regime in January, Trump promised protesters that "help is on its way." But no U.S. intervention materialized, and Iranian security forces gunned down thousands of unarmed demonstrators across the country. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said in a report Sunday that 7,015 people have been killed since the protests began in late December.
Trump said publicly that he had tabled the idea of taking military action because Iran had halted its deadly crackdown on protesters. He has since pursued diplomatic talks.
The U.S. military buildup in the region is similar to what preceded an aerial attack in June that Trump ordered against three nuclear sites in Iran, when two carriers were deployed to the Arabian Sea.
The June strikes were the first time the U.S. launched airstrikes on Iranian soil. Operation Midnight Hammer lasted less than 30 minutes, according to the Pentagon. This time, a U.S. air attack on Iran could last longer, particularly if Trump tries to inflict lasting — or fatal — damage on the regime.
If the talks with Iran fail, Trump has a range of options before him, which include an all-out attack on Iran to knock out the regime and limited strikes to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear facilities and possibly take out ballistic missile sites, or he could do nothing at all. NBC News has reported that Israeli officials told Trump in December they want to strike Iran's ballistic missile sites.
The U.S. most likely has enough military capability in the region to carry out limited strikes, depending on the objectives, according to a senior retired defense official.
Depending on what Trump decides, the targets could include Iran's air defense systems, which were already damaged in the June war between Israel and Iran, ballistic missile depots and launchers, drone manufacturing plants and bases used by the Revolutionary Guards and the Basij militia, which both played leading roles in the lethal crackdown against anti-regime protests last month, which killed thousands of people.
If Trump tries to topple the regime, he could order an array of covert actions, as well as "decapitation" strikes aimed at killing the country's leadership, including the highest authority in the country, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Any strikes on nuclear sites would be likely to include an attack on Kh-e Kolang Gaz L, or Pickaxe Mountain, an underground site dug into the side of a mountain that was not targeted in the June air war, former officials and experts said. Since June, Iran has renewed construction work at the site, which is near another nuclear facility, Natanz, according to commercial satellite imagery and experts.
"My sense of the administration is that they're going to run a policy of maximum weakening, or regime weakening, and if the inevitable consequence of that is regime change, then great," said Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank that has called for imposing tougher sanctions and other measures against Iran.
Some Middle East experts believe that if Trump decides to pursue military action with the goal of regime change, he will need more assets in the region than are currently there.
"I don't think they have enough stuff over there yet," a senior retired defense official said.
A number of air defense capabilities, including Patriot systems, are not all yet in place, according to a person familiar with the matter and the senior retired defense official.
How Trump decides to proceed on Iran could shape perceptions of America's power in the world, given his promise to the protesters, and whether a generation of Iranians loses trust in the U.S., regional analysts said.
"American credibility is on the line in a major way," Dubowitz said.
Leavitt said Wednesday that Trump is still considering military options but hopes for a deal with Tehran. "I believe the Iranians are expected to come back to us with some more detail in the next couple of weeks, and so the president will continue to watch how this plays out," she said.
Leavitt also noted the strikes Trump ordered against nuclear enrichment sites in Iran in June and said the Iranians should make a deal.
"The president has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world [that] diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration," she said.
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Well, Donny has been dying to start a war, so here goes.... (But he want's a peace prize).
Well, if he does, than the leader of the Board of Peace can whistle goodbye to ever getting a Nobel Peace Prize. He'll get Israel to start it, snd then say he's trying to end the hatred Iran has for Israel by blasting the hell out of Iran.
I honestly think trmp will start it and Israel will stay back and let the US have all the "fun"
In this antisemitic world it doesn't matter if Israel is involved or not, it will be blamed for it anyway, especially by the UN.
I don't blame Israel. I blame Netanyahu. I don't think he represents all Israelis
Antisemitic does not mean against Israel, it means against the Jewish religion. A definition right wingers refuse to comprehend.
As an example, what happened in Australia wasn't aimed at Netanyahu, or Israel, it was aimed at innocent Jews. That is just ONE example. What about the Jewish students at American universities? Why have they been victimized? They're not Israel, they're not Netanyahu.
Nobody said they were Israel. They got victimized because there are people who are so ignorant and hate filled that they take it out on Jews.
What happened in Australia had nothing to do with Israel, Gaza, or Netanyahu. It was haters, pure and simple
One can be against Netanyahu and not be anti-Semitic. I think Netty is a fucking war criminal and needs to be brought to justice for genocide and crimes against humanity. Where have we heard that before?
I'm afraid that Hamas' psychological warfare has done a good job on you. Israel didn't cause the start of the Gaza conflict. Things were not so bad for the Gazans before Oct7. About 18000 of them had better jobs in Israel than they could get in Gaza, those who had more difficult medical problems were treated in Israeli hospitals, sufficient water, gas and electricity was provided to them, and they only occasionally sent kite bombs and balloon bombs into Israel. Iran trained Hamas about how to carry on a psychological war against Israel to prompt the rest of the world to despise Israel and its leaders, successfully. Israel has been forced to end Hamas' attacks once and for all, with two necessary requirements: rescue every hostage, and stop Hamas from ever attacking Israel again. Hamas hid its weapons, control centres and themselves in and under Hospitals, schools, mosques, refugee centres and UNRWA facilities, used UNRWA vehicles and ambulances to move around and used women and children as human shields to make sure it would require Israel to cause more deaths than necessary, deaths of those people who danced in the streets, shared candies and celebrated Oct7 just like they did on 9/11. But who gets blamed for Oct7? Who gets blamed for the number of dead? Of course, ISRAEL. and Netanyanhu - you know, those JOOZ. The Press and the Newsbroadcasts STILL fall in line to always start their stories with "Israel did this, and Israel did that," and you're lucky if you get to get past the incendiary headlines and read or hear what Hamas did to CAUSE what Israel did. Gaza was a concentration camp? Gaza was blockaded because Israel had to stop the weapons being provided to Hamas that were going to be used to kill Israelis. But trying to stop the weapon smuggling was just another thing to blame Israel for. Do you really believe everything Hamas and its useful idiots tell you? Hamas wanted you to believe that the 500 or so who were killed in the Gaza City Hospital parking lot near the beginning of the war was an Israeli bomb, didn't they, and they even repeated that more recently after it has been PROVEN that it was an errant Islamic JIhad missile. Do you believe Hamas when it tells you the number of those killed? I am getting tired of having to write THE TRUTH OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
I'm not gonna argue with you about this. You've made your feelings about Palestinians clear. And that's all I have to say. Tho I don't like being insulted and condescended to
Don't accuse me of generalizing about Palestinians. I have met and appreciated Palestinians, such as the doctors and nurses in Laniado Hospital in Netanya right after I saw the Park Hotel reception room a couple of days after the Passover Bombing massacre of a big seder of a few families, but then I've also personally witnessed a lethal bus bomb in Jerusalem. How would you feel if your son, only due to the grace of God was spared being decimated by a Palestinian bomb? I know how I felt. You're aware, of course, that Palestinians are REWARDED by their government when they kill Jews, and their families are supported if they're killed doing it, and they've been funded with the humanitarian aid gifted to them, those refugees for HOW MANY GENERATIONS?
I never meant to insult you or be condescending, but I thought you were wrong and tried to tell you the truth. Just as I had tried to do once before.
Interesting. So you think there is a country somewhere named "Jew" where Jewish citizens came from?
Country = People
Not from people who are of the "Jewish" faith?
IIRC, approximately 20% of Israeli citizens are not Jewish (that number includes mostly Muslims but also some members of other religions).
I wonder if the Standford professor who told Jewish students they were colonizers was simply against Israel?
A Stanford University instructor has been removed from the classroom amid reports they called Jewish students colonizers and downplayed the Holocaust | CNN
The ancient kingdom of Judea.
(Plus the ancient kingdom of Samaria which, IIRC, was destroyed by the ancient Assyrians).
They are no relation to modern Syrians. There are apparently very few-- throughout the Middle East. If I recall, their original language was Aramaic, and I believe they are the only group still speaking it.
And is that typical of an apartheid state? Israel, where Muslims are mayors, teachers, doctors and nurses, busiiness people, scientists, where a Muslim is a justice on the Supreme Court, where there are Muslim political parties in the Knesset and even some Muslims serve in the IDF - and STILL Israel is called apartheid
Well Iran needs to be worried.
With Epstein/Trump file interests beginning to snowball, Trump needs one giant distraction to add to his other 972, cause they aren't enough to cut it any longer.
Worried that Trump will sacrifice our sons and daughters' to keep his crimes against children and humanity in general, from being exposed further. Not a good time to be in the mental midgets crosshairs, cause he'll sign em like a Jeffrey Epstein Birthday Card !
If memory serves . . .during the presidential race, didn't he object to America's involvement in all those foreign wars?
You forgot that only applies to wars started by other Presidents. If little diaper Donnie starts a war, then it was justified by God, because to all his little toe sucking sycophants, he is God.
think you spelled dick incorrectly
Trying to intimidate Iran to buckle at the current negotiations. Never get involved in a land war in Asia...
That's good advice. Both the US and the former USSR learned that lesson the hard way
For most countries that's good advice. However there's one tiny Asian country that been in several wars (by hostile neighbours who wanted to create a judenfrei Middle East-- but they failed)
A total war against Iraq has some chance of success-- but a total war against a neighbouring contry (Iran) is doomed to failure.
Why, Do you think?
Sorry, poorly phrased.
For several reasons.
First of all geography. The physical setting.
When people think of the Arab world, the Middle East, etc. they think of vast flat expanses with little other than miles of flat sandy desert (with occasional cities, towns, oasis)..Mechanized forces, the vehicles such as APCs and Tanks (and even soldiers of foot) can traverse flat land relatively easily.
But much of Iran is different-- it got high mountains. (Which protects them in a way somewhat similar to the way the mountanous terrain protects Switzerland), Much, much easier to defend than flat lands.
Secondly, the Iranians are not Arabs, (They are Persians). While the current (fanatical religious) gov't is rather "backwards" and not logically thinking, most Iranians are much more logical than much of the Arab world.
Much of the Arab world persecutes minorities. They persecute various minorities-- for example they murdered-- or kicked out almost all of their Jews. Many westerners may not be aware of it, but many Jews have been allowed to remain in Iran and are treated much better than they would be in most of the Arab world.
As long as they don't criticize the gov't or outwardly praise Israel, the Jews of Iran are treated relatively well. (Their presence strengthens society).
Much of the Arab world persecutes minorities. They persecute various minorities-- for example they murdered-- or kicked out almost all of their Jews.
Not all Arab countries are al that backwards. For example the UAE is in many ways more enlightened. And the last I heard (this may have changed?) Marocco still doesn't persecute them-- in fact their value is recognized and they are protected.
"Arab" means people indigenous to Arabia.They have spread throughout many parts of the Middle East.
Much of Morocco are not Arabs but rather "Amazighs". (AJA "Berbers").
Some Middle East experts believe that if Trump decides to pursue military action with the goal of regime change, he will need more assets in the region than are currently there.
I think that sentence explains a lot. I expect we will continue the negotiations until all of the assets are in place. And I have a feeling that Trump will lull them into thinking an agreement is near just about the time those forces get the green light.
The Iranians are not stupid, They've survived for centuries. (IIRC, I read that ancient Iran (called "Persia") was the only ancient empire that defeated the Roman Empire.
Nah, that was a bunch of white guys from Europe....
Barbarians i think they were called
Nah, that was a bunch of white guys from Europe....
Barbarians i think they were called
Maybe you're thinking of "Sasanians"?
No, they didn't.
No, that's not what I'm thinking of....
OTOH this could just be a part of his usual strategy (Make threats, then do his typical " TACO Maneuver ").
The hesitation is because this one likely means US casualties.