The US military is prepared to potentially ‘strike Iran’ as the US Air Force repositions aircraft in the area.
According to reports, potential military actions could occur this weekend, although it seems that Donald Trump has not yet made a definitive decision regarding initiating a strike.
Various news sources, such as the New York Times, CBS News, and CNN, have mentioned unnamed insiders who claim that the US is poised for possible strikes as early as this weekend.
Conversely, Reuters has received information from an unnamed senior US official indicating a longer timeline, with ample military forces expected to be ready by mid-March.
Trump has consistently urged Iran to discontinue its nuclear activities and has threatened military action if the Islamic Republic does not comply.
Nonetheless, the exact timeline remains uncertain, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not address questions about any specific deadline that Trump had given Iran to reach an agreement during a press briefing on Wednesday (February 18).
She stated: “Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump.”
Leavitt further mentioned that Trump’s administration had ‘totally obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities’ and that ‘diplomacy’ would be the ‘first option’.
She added that discussions in Geneva had made ‘a little bit of progress’, though significant differences remained.
CBS News has reported that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group is already stationed in the region.
Additionally, it is believed that a second carrier group, led by the USS Gerald Ford, is also en route, with open-source research and vessel tracking data indicating its position off the coast of West Africa as of Wednesday.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shared an AI-generated image on social media on Tuesday (February 17), depicting the ship in a grave with the caption: “More dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea.”
Iran has also declared that it is participating in military exercises alongside Russia in the Strait of Hormuz.
This strait is a strategically vital area between Iran’s southern coast and the United Arab Emirates, potentially controlling access to the Persian Gulf.
Trump had previously ordered strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last summer, stating this week: “We could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s [US stealth bombers] in to knock out their nuclear potential.”
He further remarked: “And we had to send the B-2s.”