US-Iran all-out-war fears erupt: Israel readies forces as Donald Trump is briefed on launching strikes
While neighboring countries in the Middle East are preparing emergency forces to prepare for war, US military action against the Iranian regime now appears to be waiting only for US President Donald Trump to give the order.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Mr. Trump gave brief information about possible military action against Iran; That’s something claims from multiple sources could begin this weekend.
The report also claimed that Trump ordered 1,000 US military officers to leave Syria.
Warships, warplanes and refueling ships are now on standby at strategic locations and bases in the waters of the Middle East, Africa and the Gulf region, creating a massive US military buildup near Iran.
Israel and Türkiye, close allies of the USA, informed the ready forces that they were taking action.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday instructed the country’s Home Front Command to prepare for potential war, Israeli broadcaster Yedioth Ahnonoth reported.
“Evaluations in Israel indicate that US President Donald Trump is inclined to launch a large-scale military attack on Iran in the near future, given Tehran’s rejection of US demands in negotiations,” the publication said.
“The Trump administration believes the Iranians are trying to buy time and deceive the United States.”
Israel expects Iran to attack them if a US strike is carried out, and the report adds: “There is an impression in Israel that zero hour is approaching and timescales are shrinking.”
Trump’s warning to Iran ignored
The US President has been warning Iran for months about nuclear talks and agreements and the regime’s handling of protests coming from within the country.
This sparked an order by the US War Department to move significant military assets from the China Sea, where the US rarely strays, to the Gulf in preparation for possible action against Iran.
“A massive Armada is heading toward Iran. Moving rapidly with great power, enthusiasm and purpose,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social in late January.
“It is ready, willing and able to expeditiously carry out its mission with speed and violence if necessary.”
Mr. Trump said on stage that he hoped Iran would quickly “come to the table” and not agree to have nuclear weapons, but he warned they were running out of patience.
“Time is running out, this is really important! As I told Iran before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t and there was ‘Operation Midnight Hammer’, which devastated Iran. The next attack will be much worse! Don’t do this again.”
The scale of US attacks may be incomprehensible
CNN reported claims from sources that the likely scale of US military action would be dwarfed by previous strikes in 2025, including Mr Trump ordering bunker-busting bombs to be dropped on nuclear sites in Iran as part of Operation Midnight Hammer.
Fears of all-out war between Iran and the United States follow so far failed talks on the country’s nuclear program; The US claimed to have eliminated this in Midnight Hammer.
During this attack, Iran claimed that its stocks were safe after B2 bombers dropped 14 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs.
Then, as fear of Iran’s nuclear attack targeting Israel grew, bombs were dropped.
On Thursday, reports emerged of secret, high-tech US military drones gathering intelligence in the Gulf.
It was confirmed that the MQ-4 Triton remote-controlled intelligence drone took off from the United Arab Emirates air base on Wednesday local time, having been observed spending time over Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Both countries are neighbors, with Iran being close to where the United States has amassed its most powerful and lethal arsenal.
US is building a military buildup near Iran
warships
Washington currently has 13 warships in the Middle East: an aircraft carrier – the USS Abraham Lincoln – nine destroyers and three littoral combat ships, with more on the way, according to a US official.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is currently in the Atlantic Ocean en route from the Caribbean to the Middle East after being ordered by Mr. Trump earlier this month. She is accompanied by three destroyers.
It is rare to have two US aircraft carriers in the Middle East carrying dozens of warplanes and crewing thousands of sailors.
Aeroplane
The US has also sent a large fleet of aircraft to the Middle East, according to open-source intelligence accounts at X and flight tracking site Flightradar24.
These include F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets, F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, and KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft needed to maintain operations.
Flightradar24 on Wednesday 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 and speeches
Mr. Trump ordered the warship Lincoln to the Middle East after Iran cracked down on protests that initially stemmed from economic woes but grew into a mass movement against the Islamic Republic.
The religious leadership that came to power after the 1979 Islamic revolution responded to the demonstrations with lethal force and remained in power; Many opponents of the system look to foreign intervention as the most likely driver of change.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly warned Iran that the United States would intervene militarily if it kills protesters and has also encouraged Iranians to take over state institutions, saying “help is on the way.”
He backed away from ordering the attack last month, saying Tehran had halted more than 800 executions under pressure from Washington but had since renewed threats against Iran.
US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at preventing US military intervention, and Iran later said they had agreed on “guiding principles” for a deal.
But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that “some progress has been made” but that the two sides are “still very far apart on some issues.”
Ms. Leavitt also told reporters that “there are many reasons and arguments to attack Iran,” adding: “It would be very wise for Iran to make a deal.”
– via AFP
