Donald Trump, who ran for office promising to keep the US out of war, is seemingly preparing for war with Iran.
The US president could launch strikes against Tehran as early as this weekend, according to US media.
Such a strike would in no way be a last-minute decision – Washington has been increasing its military presence in the Middle East in recent days.
Susan Ziadeh, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that ‘so much firepower… in the region creates a momentum of its own’.
She added at a panel on Wednesday: ‘Sometimes that momentum is a little hard to just put the brakes on and say, that’s it, we’re not doing anything.’
Given that the US possesses the world’s most advanced military equipment, what does this military presence look like?
The sea
Prepping for conflict can’t be done overnight, especially in the Middle East.
Most of the Pentagon’s military hardware that it hoarded in the region over decades of war has since departed, idling at US bases in Europe.
One way to get jets and other equipment, like guided missile destroyers and land-based ballistic missile defence systems, to Iran is by boat.
Marine traffic monitoring services show the USS Gerald R. Ford and three destroyers were in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Morocco yesterday.
Destroyers are nimble, long-distance warships that escort and defend powerful vessels like the Ford, with 11 now known to be in the region.
As military intelligence observers note, at her current speed, the Ford will be in the Mediterranean Sea by Sunday morning.
Formations like this, known as carrier strike groups, sometimes include a nuclear attack submarine.
The Ford is the world’s biggest aircraft carrier and is named for former President Gerald Ford, who served on a carrier during World War II.
The nuclear-powered ship, which cost about $13 billion to build, can carry up to 75 of some of America’s most powerful warplanes.
Also nearby is the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is accompanied by three warships equipped with Tomahawk missiles.
Nine squadrons with as many as 90 aircraft and helicopters, including stealth jets, are aboard the Lincoln alone.
They will join three littoral combat ships, agile vessels that operate closer to the shoreline.
The air
Some 50 fighter jets were already on their way to Iran earlier this week, analysts from the Military Air Tracking Alliance found.
Among the fighter jets, which mainly left European bases, were stealthy F-35s and the world’s most advanced fighter, the F-22s.
F-16s, versatile planes with advanced radar systems, as well as F-15s, were also spotted.
Several F/A-18s, which can engage enemy warplanes and attack targets on the ground, are already well within striking distance of Iran, air traffic websites show.
Analysts are also keeping an eye on the more than 85 fuel tankers, 170 cargo planes and hordes of reconnaissance aircraft equipped with sophisticated sensors and cameras heading into the region.
The cargo planes include the imposing C-17 Globemaster, which has been used since the 1980s to carry as much as 45,000kg of freight overseas.
As early as last month, various attack aircraft were seen at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, according to satellite imagery data from Planet Labs.
So, could there be a US-Iran war?
That’s the question on everyone’s minds.
The main matchstick in this tinderbox situation is Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, which Trump wants the country to give up.
He also wants Tehran to stop enriching any uranium, which is needed to make atomic bombs and warheads.
This is, in part, why the Pentagon has rapidly rebuilt its military presence – it needs to be able to strike Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles and launch sites.
Nevertheless, the two nations met in Geneva on Tuesday for peace talks, with Iran asking for two weeks to weigh up a diplomatic resolution.
Another gripe has been Iran’s response to a wave of protests across the country demanding regime change that began in December.
Security forces quickly crushed the demonstrations, killing thousands of civilians and imposing stretch internet and communication blackouts.
The death toll could be as high as 50,000, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the country’s deposed shah, or leader, claimed.
If Trump decides to attack Iran, this would be at least the seventh American military attack in another country in the past year.
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