A U.S. naval strike force led by an aircraft carrier was in Middle Eastern waters on Tuesday, January 27th, as Iran vowed to hit back against any strike and President Donald Trump said he believed the Islamic republic still wanted talks.
Washington has not ruled out new military intervention against Tehran over its crackdown on protests, which according to rights groups saw thousands of people killed within days.
A strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln has now arrived in Middle Eastern waters, U.S. Central Command said, without revealing its precise location.
“We have a big armada next to Iran. Bigger than Venezuela,” Trump told the Axios news site. But he added: “They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk.”
Axios said Trump declined to discuss the options presented to him by his national security team, or which one he prefers.
Analysts say options include strikes on military facilities or targeted hits against the leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a full-scale bid to bring down the system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.
The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that Trump has received multiple U.S. intelligence reports “indicating that the Iranian government’s position is weakening” and signalling its hold on power “is at its weakest point” since the shah’s fall.
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham told the paper he had spoken with Trump in recent days about Iran and that “the goal is to end the regime.”
