Tehran/Washington, Feb 18: The United States military is steadily building its air and naval assets near Iran, even as Tehran officials agreed to return to negotiating with a new proposal in two weeks. Over 50 US fighter jets, including F-35s, F-22s, and F-16s, have moved to West Asia over the last 24 hours, according to the American publication Axios.
This comes even as US officials said Washington and Tehran “made progress in nuclear talks” in Geneva on Tuesday. They, however, stressed that “there are still a lot of details to discuss,” suggesting there are still chances of an imminent military clash.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has also said that the Tuesday discussions were more “constructive” than the first round held in Muscat earlier this month, claiming that the two sides had agreed on the “guiding principles” for a potential deal over Iran’s nuclear programme.
US Military Buildup Near Iran
The ongoing US-Iran negotiations came as the Trump administration amassed heavy military forces near the Islamic Republic for possible operations, amid Washington’s increasing pressure on Tehran over its nuclear plans and the violent crackdown on January’s protests.
The US leader has already sent its aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Arabian Sea at the end of January amid increasing tensions. Later, in the first week of February, the BBC reported that a dozen F-15 fighter jets, an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone, and several A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft also reached the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan.
The satellite imagery also showed the guided-missile destroyer ship, USS Delbert D Black, was also sailing through the Suez Canal in Egypt from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, and a US Navy MQ-4C Triton surveillance drone was operating over the Gulf. The presence of an E-11A communications aircraft, a P-8 Poseidon, and an E-3G Sentry surveillance and some reconnaissance planes was also reported in the region earlier. The US has also sent a second aircraft carrier to the region.
Iran has also said that it would close part of the Strait of Hormuz – a key choke point for energy exports from the world’s top oil-producing region – for several hours due to military drills. Tehran has threatened to fully close the Strait of Hormuz in the past, but has never done so.
US-Iran Talks Progress
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi, Washington and Tehran have each agreed to draft and exchange texts for a nuclear deal before setting a date for a third round of talks. He, however, cautioned that the next stage would be “more difficult and detailed.”
Success in the talks could pave the way for a landmark agreement between Tehran and Washington that would lift a slew of tough sanctions on Iran’s oil industry and wider economy in exchange for major restrictions on its nuclear programme.
