The US has deployed a third of its fleet of B2 bombers to the US-UK military base in Diego Garcia [HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images]
The US is increasing its military presence in the Middle East as part of “deterrence” against Iran, US officials have said.
In comments to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), officials said the move comes as the Trump administration considers entering informal negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme.
The military buildup, which was announced by the Pentagon on Tuesday, will also beef up the ongoing US bombing of Yemen.
It includes F-35 stealth fighters and Patriot air and missile defence batteries, but US officials have said it is not a prelude to an attack on Iran.
There have been increased tensions between Tehran and Washington in recent days, with speculation that a US attack could happen soon.
Satellite images show that the US has stationed six B-2 strategic bombers, a third of the US fleet of 19, at the US-UK base of Diego Garcia.
The B-2s are stealth bombers that can carry the largest ordnance in the US arsenal, the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which can punch through Iran’s underground nuclear sites.
Likewise, the Pentagon announced the deployment of a second carrier group under the USS Carl Vinson to compliment the USS Harry S. Truman currently engaged in strikes against Yemen’s Houthi group.
Flight-tracking data analysed by Haaretz shows that 140 US Air Force transport planes have landed in Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan in the last month from several US bases, making a 50 percent increase in flights over the previous monthly peak.
The Israeli newspaper also reported that A-10 ground attack aircraft were deployed to Jordan alongside F-35s being deployed to Saudi Arabia. Flights from Japan and a US base in Oklahoma were likely carrying Patriot and THAAD anti-ballistic missile batteries, it added.
The WSJ’s analysis of flight-tracking data has also revealed the movement of US Air Force cargo planes and refuelling tankers to the Middle East from Europe, Asia and the US.
The large-scale buildup in the region comes amid a war of words between US and Iranian officials following the delivery of President Donald Trump’s letter to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The White House is considering Iran’s response to Trump’s letter, which would see indirect negotiations through intermediary Oman, according to Axios citing two US officials.
Although the Trump administration says direct negotiations would likely have a higher chance of success, it isn’t ruling out the indirect talks for now.
S officials told the publication that Trump doesn’t want a war with Iran but is seeking deterrence during the negotiations that will allow the US to act against Iran quickly if negotiations break down.
Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if it doesn’t reach a deal within the two-month deadline set out in his letter to Khamenei on Sunday.
Iran’s leadership responded in kind, with Khamenei that if such bombing occurred “they will definitely receive a strong counterattack”.
General Amirali Hajizadeh, the aerospace force commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the US has “at least 10 bases in the region around Iran, and they have 50,000 troops,” adding that “someone who is in a glass room shouldn’t throw stones at anyone.”
Israeli newspaper Maariv, citing an Iranian source said that Iran’s armed forces have been placed on a raised alert level in preparation for escalation, adding that 1,000 hypersonic ballistic missiles have been prepared.
The missiles are alleged to be aimed at Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility as well as facilities in central Israel and US bases in the region. Iranian military officials are also trying to persuade Khamenei to reverse his fatwa against nuclear proliferation and to leave the Nuclear-Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel’s military is preparing for the possibility of an Iranian pre-emptive strike, the publication also reported.
In 2024 Iran twice fired a volley of missiles against Israel as part of a round of reciprocal strikes between the two countries as part of regional fallout from Israel’s war on Gaza.
