The US is building up its military presence in the Middle East, as President Donald Trump weighs action against Iran.
Trump, so far, has not acted on his threats to strike Iran over the regime’s deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters, but US officials said he is seeking “decisive” military options: A US aircraft carrier was spotted sailing away from the South China Sea and toward the Persian Gulf, reinforcing Asian officials’ concerns that such redeployment would reduce American naval strength in the Indo-Pacific.
But a former US hostage in Iran argued that limited strikes would be unlikely to topple the regime, and that “it would be a mistake to assume” Trump’s priorities “align with the aspirations of the Iranian people.”