Illustrative image. (U.S. Central Command)
The United States military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, Reuters reported on February 14, citing two U.S. officials.
Since last month, when Trump first threatened the Islamic Republic over a wave of protest that turned deadly, the U.S. military has been deploying additional assets in the Middle East. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group arrived in the region earlier this month, and a second strike group led by the carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is on its way there.
U.S. and Iranian officials held indirect talks in Oman last week. Nevertheless, the talks were focused on the nuclear issue only.
Speaking to U.S. troops at a base in North Carolina a day before Reuters report came out, Trump said it had “been difficult to make a deal” with Iran.
“Sometimes you have to have fear. That’s the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of,” Trump said.
Asked about potential regime change in Iran by reporters after the visit to Fort Bragg, Trump said, “it seems like that would be the best thing that could happen,” as he confirmed sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East “in case we don’t make a deal” with the Islamic Republic.
“For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s clerical rulers. “In the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of lives while they talk. Legs blown off, arms blown off, faces blown off. We’ve been going on for a long time.”
Pressed on who he would like to take over the Islamic Republic, Trump declined to give a specific name, but he added that “there are people.”
The U.S. officials who spoke with Reuters repealed that the military planning against Iran underway this time is more complex.
In a sustained campaign, the U.S. military could hit Iranian state and security facilities, not just nuclear infrastructure, one of the officials said. The same official said the U.S. fully expected Iran to retaliate, leading to back-and-forth strikes and reprisals over a period of time.
While the U.S. military is clearly preparing for an all-out war, Trump’s recent remarks indicate that he is growing frustrated with Tehran. Still, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on February 14 that the U.S. President is open to the idea of meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“I’m pretty confident in saying that if the ayatollah said tomorrow he wanted to meet with President Trump, the President would meet him, not because he agrees with the ayatollah but because he thinks that’s the way you solve problems in the world, and he doesn’t view meeting someone as a concession,” Rubio said during an interview with Bloomberg News.
A U.S. official and three sources with knowledge told Axios on the same day that the U.S. and Iran are expected to hold a second round of nuclear talks in Geneva on February 17 in an effort to reach a deal that prevents war.
It is highly unlikely that the next round of talks will produce any tangible results, as the two sides remain very far from each other on the nuclear issue. Adding to the complexity of the situation is the fact that Iran has so far refused to discuss its missile program and regional influence.
Trump may be earnest in his efforts to reach a diplomatic solution with Iran. However, he is likely looking for a deal that fulfills all the demands of the U.S. and Israel without ceding much to the Islamic Republic. Due to this, an agreement seems further away from war.
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trumps knows that just a single warship sunk by iran will cause huge problems! remember when iran attacked tha ayn assad base and pentagon as well as us media refuted the trump words…
what are you trying to say ramses narrative regime change rod vanya pablo crews espanol a etc?
i hope this sinks trump completely
chumpo will be totally f….d. he will go down in history as the worst president of all time. he has just screwed up the jewsa economy with the canadian tariffs. soon millions of maga retards in raccoonville tennessee will be fighting over a lof of bread …… heheheheh.
uncle sam has had a grudge with the islamic republic of iran ever since their 1979 revolution.
ramses has a grudge against the jews since moses demanded… set my people free pharoah… let go off it ramses your people didn’t love you your army even ran off with the the jews, glad to escape too. serves you right history always repeats.
“for 27 years, they’ve been talking and talking,” about me trump said, referring to his pedophilia. “in the meantime, we’ve lost a lot of children. i raped, i sodomized, i murdered i “ate”… going on for a long time.”…
paedo chumpo has to jump whenever his joo masters tell him to. he sold his soul to the jooz years ago, and they have all his kiddie raping and murdering and cannibal antics on tape.
hahaha desperation oozing from every orifice, leaking like a sieve clutching at straws….. lol
and we haven’t even brought up the war crimes?!!!
hahaha haha you’re really on a roll ramses your army ran away and didnt come back hahaha haha your empire of pyramid poinzi slavery collapsed and your alien architects haha couldn’t spare a dime to come back to rescue you from a mere mortal macedonian homo, either. hahahaha
it will take a large scale attack against us navy vessels and carrier groups, expensive air defense systems, us bases and possibly personnel for the american publics negative reaction and discontent to take place and have an effect on the outcome. iran should plan for overwhelming complex operations & asymmetrical actions to compensate for its lack of support or air power
assymetrtical robbo? that’s a big word did you read it in another news column that you cut and pasted too? the wapo or new pork times?
for 79 years the izzies were supposed to honor the un partition plan for two states. since 1967 they have been talking about a “two state solution”. in the meantime the izzies are conducting a slow motion genocide. take that ziodon trump.
moreover, ziodon does not talk or negotiate. he dictates because he is the ziodon and it is his way (i tell you) or the highway (i bomb you).
bee bee too one oh late again once more you mistake trump as friend of the rockefellers created un at dutch royals request as usual there’s one authority that’s known for operating as might makes right and that s hereditary imperialism stemming back to rome.
trump is not worth to meet him.
trump is not in negotiation. the only object is to create political propaganda for deniability of responsibility. all hail star of epstine
ramses narrative rob anerican regime change etcera etcetera youre far too obvious to be a mistake we know you always want to gloat. just can’t help yourself like the criminal that wants to get caught because attentions their inspiration. imo
trumps handlers are pulling his puppet strings.
your just too obvious ramses rod narrative anuz destroyer regime change e trollope and sf votes really make them look silly. really silly
attacking iran would be insane. this could fire back in the worst way possible!
they have already attacked iran multiple times. insanity is a given
repeating your ramses narrative like living in a vacuum s right up there in that realm
last time they were in the midst of negotiations. trump tried a surprise attack while negotiations took place.
teheran shoot back, shot some f35 and israel begged for ceasefire.
now there is nothing but threats and buying time. iran knows and woe to destroy every us entity in its surroundings if beeing attacked.
this time usa and israel will get more than a blody nose if they dare.
again hahahaha a always with your baby talk we know nothing but what we’re told you know says sergeant schulz. just pathetic.
whole the time when i read the nonsense you write i wonder how much energy you waste for trying to insult others. your pants are full when the name ramses came up. and most of your topic is ramses here ramses there. you are a moron and nobody read your comments anymore, because of bullshit. and what’s this childish “hahaha”. do you ever learned from other books than comix?
iran has nothing, it is low risk
do you read the future by sticking you finger in you ass and reading the outcome? never ever heard a logic comment from you.
looking forward to all those us carriers being sunk! 👍
who is going to do that? the silly ass persians? the coward russians? the even more cowardly chinese?
trump is a coward and a serial draft dodger kiddy fiddling pervert who knows that iran will wipe out the zionist cancer if attacked.
only had one foreign war to dodge, that was vietnam. heel spurs were the medical excuse which was a forgery ; the podiatrist concerned benefited from it.
real p*ssant creature is the orange julius
trumpstein prepares to lose in 2026 big time. if you going down, go down hard orange pumkin
the gop is the problem, trumps entire foreign policy is to appease the gop senators and his major donor the jew adelson.
yup, hopefully this is the end of all that gop nonsense
iran should start shooting right now, why wait for the other two carrier battle groups to arrive????
iran should give ultimatum: all us forces leave within 48 hrs or be fired upon