Asked yesterday, whether Iran faces a deadline to make a deal, President Donald Trump suggested the timeline already had been conveyed to Tehran privately, reported Fox News. “Only they know for sure,” he said, confirming when pressed that the message had been delivered directly to Iranian leaders, reported the same Fox News story cited above. Trump also tied the growing U.S. naval presence in the region explicitly to Iran, saying American warships “have to float someplace” and “might as well float near Iran” as Washington weighs its next steps.
Meanwhile, the U.S. force buildup in the region continues. Six F-35A stealth fighters that were seen landing at Lajes Field in the Azores a day or two ago were the same six from the Vermont Air National Guard–identifiable by the “VT” emblazoned on their tails–that had been deployed to Puerto Rico for the anti-Venezuela operation.
If those F-35s end up in Southwest Asia, they join three F-15E squadrons, one F-16 squadron, and one A-10 squadron already there. The UK Defense Journal also cites open source analysts reporting a flow of KC-135 and KC-46 air refueling tankers heading to the Middle East and 20 positioned at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar. Tankers often accompany deploying fighter jets on long flights, so there could be more fighters—which often fly with their public transponder signals off so they don’t show up on flight trackers—deploying to the region than has so far been reported.
