Washington (United States) (AFP) – The United States is building a major force of naval and air assets in the Middle East, potentially setting the stage for a sustained military campaign against Iran. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Tehran with military action if ongoing talks do not reach a replacement for the nuclear deal the US president tore up in 2018, during his first term in office.
In addition to the ships and warplanes being deployed in the Middle East, the United States has tens of thousands of troops deployed on bases throughout the region, some of which could be vulnerable to Iranian counter-attacks.
**Ships**
Washington currently has 13 warships in the Middle East: one aircraft carrier — the USS Abraham Lincoln — nine destroyers, and three littoral combat ships, with more on the way, according to a US official. The USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — is currently in the Atlantic Ocean en route from the Caribbean to the Middle East, after being ordered there by Trump earlier this month. It is accompanied by three destroyers. It is rare for there to be two US aircraft carriers — which carry dozens of warplanes and are crewed by thousands of sailors — in the Middle East. The United States had two of the massive warships in the region in June last year when it targeted three Iranian nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day campaign of strikes on Iran.
**Aircraft**
The United States has also sent a large fleet of aircraft to the Middle East, according to open-source intelligence accounts on X and flight-tracking website Flightradar24. These include F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets, F-15 and F-16 warplanes, and the KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft that are needed to sustain their operations. On Wednesday, Flightradar24 showed multiple KC-135s flying near or in the Middle East, as well as E3 Sentry airborne warning and control aircraft and cargo planes operating in the region.
**Protests, threats, talks**
Trump ordered the Lincoln to the Middle East as Iran cracked down on protests that were initially driven by economic grievances, but which turned into a mass movement against the Islamic republic. The clerical leadership that took power after the 1979 Islamic revolution responded to the demonstrations with deadly force and has held onto power, with many opponents of the system looking to outside intervention as the most likely driver of change.
Trump had repeatedly warned Iran that if it killed protesters, the United States would intervene militarily, and also encouraged Iranians to take over state institutions, saying “help is on the way.” He pulled back from ordering strikes last month, saying Tehran had halted more than 800 executions under pressure from Washington, but has since renewed threats against Iran. US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at averting US military intervention. Iran said following the talks that they had agreed on “guiding principles” for a deal to avoid conflict, but US Vice President JD Vance said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington’s red lines.
© 2024 AFP
