File image.
The United States military could attack Iran in the next 24 hours, Reuters reported on January 14 evening, citing two European officials.
An Israeli official also told the news agency that President Donald Trump had decided to intervene, though the scope and timing remained unclear.
Trump has repeatedly threatened the Islamic Republic since the beginning of the month over ongoing protests, vowing to hold the government accountable if protesters are killed. Reports from Iranian monitoring groups and officials from the country suggest that over 2,000 people, including both protesters and security personnel, have been killed so far.
Reports from earlier in the day revealed that the U.S. evacuated troops from multiple bases in the Middle East, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, as a precautionary measure. The Qatari government said in a statement that the evacuations “are being undertaken in response to the current regional tensions.”
Later multiple U.S. military aerial tankers, at least six, were spotted taking off from Al Udeid Air Base to an undisclosed destination.
Click to see full-size image. (Flightradar24/Telegram)
An Iranian official told Reuters that Iran had warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Meanwhile, U.S. military officials revealed to The New York Times that the Navy currently has two guided missile destroyers in the Middle East region, in addition to the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, which in recent days has sailed into the Red Sea. The Navy also has at least one nuclear attack submarine in the region, according to officials.
Another report by The New York Post revealed that a third guided missile destroyer, the USS Roosevelt, was ordered into the region.
All recent reports indicate that Israel will not be taking part in a U.S. attack on Iran. One report by The Washington Post even revealed that days before protests erupted in Iran, Israel and the Islamic Republic used Russian mediation to agree on avoiding preemptive attacks.
Still, the country is clearly preparing for a possible response, not just by Iran, but also by its regional allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israeli air defenses have been reportedly placed on high alert, with photos posted online showing the deployment of multiple Iron Dome batteries.
Bomb shelters have also been opened in several parts of the country, including in the city of Dimona, where the Negev Nuclear Research Center is located.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
A source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah said that diplomats sought assurances from the Tehran-backed group that it would not respond if Iran were attacked.
Diplomats have sought guarantees from Hezbollah that it will not take military action if Iran is attacked, a Lebanese source familiar with the group’s thinking told Reuters.
The source said that Hezbollah was approached through diplomatic channels last week. Hezbollah did not offer explicit guarantees but has no plans to act if the strike on Iran is not “existential” for the leadership of the Islamic Republic, the source added.
Despite all of this escalation, Trump said later in the day that Washington had been informed that the killing of protesters in Iran has ceased and that the Islamic Republic will not be carrying out executions as feared.
“We have been notified pretty strongly — but we’ll find out what that all means… We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office without elaborating on who passed along that message to Tehran.
Taking into account all recent developments, including U.S. military movements, Trump remarks are nothing more than a bluff.
It is highly unlikely that Iran has accepted Washington’s strict conditions with regard to its nuclear and missile program, thus it is highly unlikely that some last minute agreement was reached. Trump is likely attempting to deceive the Islamic Republic exactly as it did before joining the Israeli war last June.
The decision to attack Iran was likely taken even before the protests. Many reports from November and December suggested that the U.S. and Israel were planning an attack on the Islamic Republic under the pretext of countering its missile program.
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just completely level kharg island with standoff weapons and then the ayatollah regime will inevitably be caput in a matter of weeks without having to put boots or the ground or risking us aircraft or pilots.
hezbollah is strong only in the media mind and its press releases. as with iran, its strategic cowardice gifted the strategic initiative with the imperial powers. netanyahu’s pathological violence is most unlikely to have him leave israeli out of exploiting such a critical moment; iran’s missiles only matter while there is a command structure to order firing and a control structure to do so.