Iranian officials are vowing that a US attack will be met with ‘lethal’ force against Washington’s bases in West Asia
News Desk - The Cradle
“The strikes could come as early as this week, but that timeline could shift,” the report says, adding that talks on the matter within US President Donald Trump’s government have been “chaotic.”
A former US intelligence official told the outlet that Trump has “not given up” on regime change.
“The US has been working to replenish supplies of missile interceptors exhausted during the 12-day war,” another source, also a former US official, said, adding that “total supplies” had moved up – but that the “US is still constrained, as it provides supplies to Ukraine.”
The US has deployed an aircraft carrier, additional squadrons of fighter jets, and other assets toward the region – in massive military buildup which many have described as a prelude to an upcoming war on Iran.
The MEE report comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln has arrived in West Asia.
According to reports citing flight tracking data, Washington has reinforced the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan with F-15 warplanes.
THAAD missile defense systems have been moved to the region as well.
Iranian officials have warned Washington that any attack will be met with a devastating response.
“We will not allow anyone to undermine our security or cause any harm to our country,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday. “All options are on the table.”
“Iran will not be the initiator of any war, but it will not allow any threat to its national security to reach the implementation stage, even in its early stages,” Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s (IRGC) Khatem al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said a day earlier.
“In the event of any US mistake, its bases in West Asia will be targeted,” Iranian lawmaker Esmail Kowsari said last week, adding that it would be “lethal and deterrent.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently warned that Iran is ready to strike back “with everything we have.”
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also said earlier this month that both US bases and Israel will be hit if an attack on Iran is launched.
Over the past few weeks, Iran faced widespread riots after economic protests turned violent following the collapse of the Iranian currency, caused by years of brutal US sanctions.
Western-based rights groups claim thousands of peaceful protesters have been killed. Iran has detained hundreds of armed rioters, many of whom have been found with links to the Mossad, and are behind the killing of scores of civilians and security officers.
Trump called off a planned attack on Iran earlier this month, after vowing to hit the country “hard” and “rescue” protesters. The president claimed he changed his mind after Iran decided against executing hundreds of detained rioters. Iran has denied this.
Yet Trump has escalated his threats again, and reports say he has ordered his team to draw up several military options, which include attempting to topple the government.
Trump said last week that he was sending an “armada” toward Iran.
US officials made public threats against Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s life. Resistance leaders across the region, including Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, have warned that threats against Khamenei will “ignite the whole region.”
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