Senior US national security officials told Donald Trump in a Situation Room meeting that the military is ready for potential attacks on Iran as early as Saturday, but the timing of any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend. Informed sources told CBS News this, underlining that the American president has not yet made a decision.
The US military has put itself “into position” for a possible attack on Iran, Pentagon and White House officials report to the New York Times, specifying that Trump has not yet made a decision on how to proceed.
On the eve of the first Board of Peace for Gaza in Washington, more and more winds of war seem to be blowing between the US and Iran, which while keeping nuclear negotiations open are preparing for a clash. Axios warns of the worst-case scenario, according to which the Trump administration is closer to a war in the Middle East than most Americans think.
“The leader is getting impatient. Some people around him are warning him against going to war with Iran, but I think there’s a 90 percent chance we’ll see military action in the next few weeks,” a Trump adviser said. The signs are there. Trump’s military posture now includes two aircraft carriers, a dozen warships, hundreds of fighter jets and several air defense systems, although some of this firepower is still on the way. Like the USS Gerald Ford, which could cross the Strait of Gibraltar in these hours together with its powerful escort. In the last 24 hours alone, another 50 fighters — F-35, F-22 and F-16 — have been sent to the region, with a colossal airlift that has continued unabated for two days. Meanwhile, Tehran is also deploying its forces, decentralizing decision-making authority, strengthening nuclear sites and intensifying its repression of internal dissent. One of the latest moves is the announcement of a joint naval exercise with Moscow in the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean where about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies transit. The maneuvers are planned not far from the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln sailing off the coast of Oman. “More dangerous than the American warship is the weapon that can send it to the bottom of the sea”, threatened the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
Iranian leaders are preparing for an attack that could interrupt the chain of command and for this reason the Pasdaran have announced since the beginning of the month their intention to restore the “mosaic defense” strategy, which gives commanders autonomy in issuing orders to their units. The municipality of Tehran has also identified metro stations, parking lots and other places that could serve as air raid shelters. Finally, Iran is conducting work on its nuclear sites to better protect them from possible attacks, according to satellite images published by the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based research center.
According to Axios, a US military operation in Iran would be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like an actual war than the targeted raids conducted last month in Venezuela. It would probably be a joint operation between the United States and Israel. Such a war would have a dramatic impact on the entire region, where Arab and Muslim leaders are pushing to avoid conflict. The second round of talks in Geneva recorded “progress”, and Tehran announced that it is “developing a coherent framework to advance future talks with the United States”, probably within two weeks. Meanwhile, Moscow has said it is “willing to take Iranian enriched uranium” to allow an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program. But the differences remain wide and American leaders do not seem optimistic about the possibility of bridging them. Vice President J.D. Vance noted that the talks “went well” in some respects, but “in others it was very clear that the Iranians are not yet willing to recognize and address the red lines set by Trump.” On June 19, the White House set a two-week window to decide between further negotiations or attacks. Three days later, Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer.