The U.S. military is positioning itself to potentially join Israel’s assault on Iran, as President Trump weighs direct action against Tehran to deal a permanent blow to its nuclear program.
Trump on Tuesday urged residents of Tehran to flee and suggested he was weighing action against Iran, less than 12 hours after he had publicly pressed the country to accept his terms for a nuclear deal.
Perhaps the biggest question facing Trump is whether the U.S. will drop bunker buster bombs, known as GBU-57, on Iran’s Fordow nuclear site, a move Iran hawks say is necessary to eliminate Tehran’s nuclear threat.
Israel does not possess such a bomb, believed to be the only armament capable of destroying the highly protected nuclear plant buried deep in an Iranian mountain, nor the U.S. B-2 stealth bomber to drop it from. That has former and current Israeli officials pressing the U.S. to enter the conflict.
“The United States is much stronger than us. It has capabilities that we don’t possess,” former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday. “I am sure that the United States, if it decides to act, will do it for its own interests and not our interests only.”
Another former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, also told CNN that Trump has “an obligation to make sure that the region is going to a positive way and that the world is free from Iran that possesses [a] nuclear weapon.”
Trump — who on Monday cut short his visit to the Group of Seven summit in Canada to return to Washington to huddle with his national security team — has already authorized several military capabilities to the Middle East for defensive purposes. Those include more than 30 refueling tanker aircraft sent to Europe, the USS Nimitz carrier strike group ordered to the Middle East and two destroyers sent to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to help Israel defend against guided missile strikes.
The refueling tankers could be used to help replenish Israeli jets, offering Trump a less intense option for military involvement.
A U.S. official told NewsNation that the planes were moved to the European theater to give Trump “options” should things escalate further and the U.S. decide to become more involved.
The extra equipment and personnel add to the large U.S. force posture in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops, air defense systems, fighter aircraft and warships.
The deployments of air and sea assets, taken together, suggest Washington is preparing for a potential offensive operation as Israel and Iran take part in tit-for-tat attacks, open warfare that Israeli officials have said could last “weeks, not days” and threatens to spark a wider war in the Middle East.
Trump on Tuesday afternoon met with his national security team for more than an hour in the Situation Room, according to the White House.
But even amid the military buildup and high-level meetings, Trump as of Tuesday afternoon has not publicly committed himself to any course of action. He continues to urge Iran to make a deal to end its nuclear program “before it is too late,” but has deflected questions as to what would cause a direct U.S. intervention in the war, telling reporters on Monday: “I don’t want to talk about that.”
Still, he has hinted the U.S. could step into the fray. He said Tuesday on Truth Social that, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran,” which an administration official told NewsNation indicated both the U.S. and its ally Israel, adding the U.S. has no presence in the skies over Iran.
“Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff,’” Trump posted.
And Sunday, he said “it’s possible” the U.S. could get involved in the conflict.
Israel, now in its fifth day of missile strikes, has already damaged Iranian energy installations, missile sites, nuclear infrastructure, command centers and its state television station, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing no interest in negotiating after last week launching its largest military operation ever against the regional rival.
Israeli attacks, which also killed several of Iran’s top military leaders, began after its officials accused Iran of being on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Since then, the two sides have traded large scale missile attacks in what has become the deadliest confrontation between the countries, with at least 24 people killed in Israel and more than 220 killed in Iran.
The U.S. so far has only stepped in to help Israel shoot down incoming missiles via its provided Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense systems. Trump earlier Tuesday also said he was seeking “a real end” to the conflict, stressing that he’s “not looking for a ceasefire.” But he also warned that Iran knows “not to touch our troops” and that the U.S. would be “gloves off” in its response to such a scenario.