Iran

There is a lot of media reporting right now on potential timelines for US strikes on Iran, including suggestions of action this weekend. The markets are already getting jittery: some commentators think that a weekend start is likely so as to let people calm down a bit before trading resumes on Monday.

The position of the USS Gerald R Ford, the most powerful aircraft carrier in the world, is of interest here. Her arrival in the Eastern Med is seen by many as an essential precursor to action. This is not correct, but it is an indicator. Having the Ford in position to strike Iran, and potentially to defend Israel, would significantly add to the firepower provided by the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf of Oman and the many other US assets in the region.

President Donald Trump says the world will find out “over the next, probably, 10 days” whether the US will reach a deal with Iran or take military action.

At the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington DC, Trump said of negotiations with the Islamic Republic about its nuclear programme: “We have to make a meaningful deal otherwise bad things happen.”

In recent days, the US has surged military forces to the Middle East, while progress was also reported at talks between American and Iranian negotiators in Switzerland.

The United States is rapidly expanding its military footprint across the Middle East, positioning major naval and air assets across the region as the Trump administration mounts pressure on Iran.

While the second round of nuclear negotiations wrapped this week and were described as “constructive,” the United States has continued to amass over a dozen warships and hundreds of planes throughout the region.

There is a 90 per cent chance of war against Islamic Republic in coming weeks, says Washington source

US fighter jets tracked as heading towards the Middle East could be laying the groundwork for a major bombing campaign.

The uptick in warplanes travelling to the Gulf is likely to be used to clear the way for heavy bombers to strike at the heart of Iran’s regime, experts have said.

Large numbers of American combat aircraft and support planes such as air-to-air refuellers have been seen moving eastwards this week.

Iran’s supreme leader threatened to send US aircraft carriers to the “bottom of the sea” while talks to avert a war began in Geneva.

Ali Khamenei dismissed the American military build-up in the Persian Gulf after Donald Trump ordered a second carrier to the region last week.

“They constantly say we have sent an aircraft carrier towards Iran,” the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader said. “Very well, an aircraft carrier is certainly a dangerous machine, but more dangerous than the carrier is the weapon that can send it to the bottom of the sea.”

BBC Verify has confirmed the location of US aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln near Iran using satellite imagery, as Washington continues to put pressure on the country over its military program and recent deadly crackdown on protesters.

US and Iranian officials are set to meet in Swizerland on Tuesday for a second round of talks. Iran says the meeting will focus on its nuclear programme and the potential lifting of economic sanctions imposed by the US. Washington has previously indicated it wants to discuss other issues as well.

The Abraham Lincoln, which leads a strike group with three guided missile destroyers, carries 90 aircraft including F35 fighters, and 5,680 crew, was reportedly deployed to the Gulf region in late January but has not been seen in satellite imagery until now. It has been located off the coast of Oman, around 700km from Iran.

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration covertly sent thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran after the regime’s brutal crackdown on demonstrations last month, U.S. officials said, an effort to keep dissidents online following Tehran’s stifling of internet access.

After Iranian authorities smothered mounting unrest in January by killing thousands of protesters and severely cutting internet connectivity, the U.S. smuggled roughly 6,000 of the satellite-internet kits into the country, the first time the U.S. has directly sent Starlink into Iran.

The State Department had purchased nearly 7,000 Starlink terminals in earlier months—with most bought in January—to help antiregime activists circumvent internet shut-offs in Iran, officials said. The purchase came after senior Trump administration appointees decided to divert some funds from other internet-freedom initiatives inside Iran to the purchasing of Starlink terminals instead.