JP: US aircraft carriers heading to Middle East as Trump weighs Iran strike

The United States Armed Forces are significantly bolstering their military presence in the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, and amid concerns that President Donald Trump may be weighing a direct military strike against Tehran.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group — including two guided-missile destroyers, the USS Spruance and USS Michael Murphy — have transited the Strait of Malacca and are en route to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Israeli media outlet The Jerusalem Post.

The group is expected to arrive in the Middle East within five to seven days, where it will augment regional deterrence and offer broad strike capabilities if ordered.

In the past 24 hours, at least 12 additional F-15 fighter jets — along with aerial refueling tankers — have reached Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a notable enhancement of forward-deployed airpower. Additional fighters and support aircraft are believed to be flying to the region, while cargo planes have landed at the U.S. base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, delivering logistics and other materiel.

U.S. officials, speaking to The Jerusalem Post, said “all options are now on the table,” and that the buildup is intended to provide President Trump with a range of flexible military options should he decide to authorise an offensive operation against Iranian targets.

Israeli authorities have also been monitoring the situation closely. On January 18, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior defence ministers to review the latest developments. Officials in Jerusalem reportedly believe that a U.S. strike on Iran remains a possibility, even as diplomatic efforts continue in parallel.

However, the Trump administration faces complications beyond military readiness. Several Arab states have reportedly signalled reluctance to allow their territories to be used for strike operations against Tehran, complicating U.S. planning and logistics — an issue Washington officially downplays but has repeatedly emerged in regional diplomatic reporting.

The Iranian leadership has responded with hardened rhetoric. President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that any attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would effectively be a declaration of war, and Tehran has pledged strong retaliation in the event of U.S. military action.

Tensions are compounded by ongoing unrest inside Iran, where recent protests over economic hardship and political grievances have been met with a brutal government crackdown. Iranian officials say at least 5,000 people have been killed, and tens of thousands arrested, in some of the most severe domestic unrest since the 1979 revolution. These human rights concerns have been cited by Trump and other U.S. policymakers as part of the rationale for possible intervention, although independent verification of casualty figures remains difficult.

For now, the United States maintains a posture of heightened readiness, even as diplomatic channels — including discreet communications between Washington, Gulf states, and Tehran — attempt to ease the situation and avert open warfare.

By Khagan Isayev