The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln continues to make its way toward the Middle East and is expected to arrive in the region within the next few days.
اضافة اعلان
Reports also indicated that the aircraft carrier USS George Bush may likewise be heading to the region. This comes amid Israeli moves to examine scenarios for responding to a potential Iranian attack.
Sources reported an increasing presence of U.S. fighter jets and combat support assets, as well as the possibility of fighter squadrons arriving at U.S. bases in the region.
Meanwhile, the Axios website quoted U.S. and Israeli officials as saying that four reasons prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to step back from launching a military strike against Iran last Wednesday, in response to its handling of the widespread protests that have swept the country.
According to the U.S. site, Trump’s retreat was due to the insufficiency of U.S. forces and equipment in the Middle East to strike Iran and to deal with any Iranian response to a U.S. attack.
Since the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, Washington has withdrawn many of its military assets from the region and redeployed them to the Caribbean and East Asia.
The second reason behind Trump’s decision not to strike Iran was warnings issued by U.S. allied countries, which cautioned against the potential repercussions on regional stability.
Axios also reported, citing an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that Netanyahu held a phone call with Trump on January 14, during which he informed him that Israel was not prepared to defend itself against any Iranian attack in response to the imminent U.S. strike.
According to the site, this Israeli warning in particular constituted the third factor behind Trump’s decision not to give the green light for military attacks on Iran.
The fourth reason, according to Axios, was the existence of a backchannel of communication between Washington and Tehran. U.S. officials told the site that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a text message to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, pledging that Iranian authorities would postpone scheduled executions of participants in the protests.
Israeli Preparations
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir held a meeting yesterday, Sunday, at Air Force headquarters to discuss scenarios for an Israeli response to a potential Iranian attack.
The channel quoted the CEO of Israel Aerospace Industries as saying that there are sufficient Arrow missiles available to intercept Iranian missiles.
Pressure from the United States and its ally Israel on Tehran has been mounting since popular protests erupted in Iran in late December, in protest against deteriorating economic and living conditions.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned yesterday, Sunday, that any targeting of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would be considered a declaration of all-out war against Iran. This came after statements by the U.S. president in which he said that “the time has come to look for new leadership in Iran.”
Pezeshkian’s remarks followed an interview by the U.S. president with Politico, in which he said it was time “to look for new leadership for Iran.”
Trump called on the Iranian leadership to focus on governing the country “properly, as he does, rather than killing thousands to maintain control,” as he put it.
The U.S. president’s comments came in response to accusations made by Khamenei on Saturday against the United States and Israel, accusing them of involvement in what he described as acts of sabotage and killings in Iran.
Since late December, Iran has witnessed a wave of widespread protests that began with a strike by Tehran’s bazaar merchants over deteriorating living conditions, before turning into demonstrations that raised political slogans.
According to human rights estimates, more than 3,000 people were killed during 21 days of protests, and more than 24,000 were arrested. (Agencies)
