President Donald Trump's administration is moving more US naval and air force resources to the region near Iran, despite assurances that diplomacy with Tehran remains his preferred outcome.
The USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group has moved from the Caribbean to just west of Gibraltar and will be in a position to reach the western Mediterranean by the weekend, based on a fleet tracking analysis by think tank US Naval Institute.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has been in the Arabian Sea since late January. The Pentagon over the past few days has moved multiple air refueling and airborne communications aircraft from bases in the US to Europe, according to open source intelligence provider OSINTDefender.
The Trump administration has argued positioning additional US military assets near Iran is necessary to pressure Tehran to make unspecified concessions in future diplomatic engagements with the US.
Those military assets will be required to protect against a possible attack from Iran, according to US secretary of state Marco Rubio. That statement suggests that the administration — as it did in the January military operation in Venezuela — sees no need to inform the US Congress or ask its approval for a possible military action against Tehran.
Trump on Wednesday overruled his administration's previous support for the UK-Mauritius deal over the Chagos islands, noting that the US may soon need to use the Diego Garcia base located in the Indian Ocean territory for an attack on Iran. The Diego Garcia base can host B-2 stealth bombers, which took part in the bombing raid against Iran's nuclear facilities in June 2025.
"Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia ... in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime", Trump said on a social media post Wednesday.
Vice president JD Vance also weighed in after the latest US-Iran talks on 17 February, saying that Iran is not willing to "work through" red lines set by the US on its nuclear program.
There are "many reasons and arguments that one could make for a strike against Iran," the White House said on Wednesday. "The president has always been very clear, though, with respect to Iran or any country around the world, diplomacy is always his first option. And Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration."
