A distinctly Trump-era sense of tension is gathering over the Middle East.
Following months of apparent restraint, Donald Trump now seems to be positioning the United States for a possible new round of military strikes against Iran.
The US president has assembled one of the largest American naval deployments seen in the region in decades, with a major force concentrated in the Arabian Sea.
The USS George Washington and USS George W Bush aircraft carriers are already operating in the area, supported by 17 warships. The force includes the USS Boxer amphibious readiness group.
A third carrier strike group, headed by the $4.5billion (£3.3billion) USS Theodore Roosevelt, is moving towards the Middle East from the Philippine Sea. It is travelling alongside the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit amphibious assault force.
The group is expected to reach the region within days, potentially raising the number of US sailors and Marines stationed there to more than 20,000.
Together, the three carrier groups can carry roughly 150 combat aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighters and F/A-18 Super Hornets.
The US Navy last maintained three carrier strike groups in the Middle East in April, marking the first such deployment since 2003.
The latest military build-up has raised fears of a possible offensive once the US midterm elections conclude on Tuesday. Trump had previously indicated that no attack would be launched before then.
A series of fresh threats from the president in recent days has intensified speculation that he may be preparing to resume military action against Iran, a move that could push the wider Middle East back into turmoil.
Donald Trump has built up US forces in the Middle East as concerns grow that he could order a new attack on Iran after next week’s midterm elections
The United States has sent a third carrier strike group to the region, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt (pictured)
Tensions rose further on Friday, when Trump appeared to indicate that his confrontation with Iran could soon reach a decisive stage.
‘It’s going to get wrapped up soon,’ Trump said during an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO, though he did not explain what that would involve.
‘We need a guarantee there’ll never be a nuclear weapon,’ he added.
However, allegations that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons have been challenged. Previous US intelligence assessments, including findings attributed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), concluded that Iran did not possess such weapons.
Even so, Trump is reportedly continuing to consider new air strikes against Iran, which has resisted earlier attacks and military pressure.
‘Do I finish it off, which would be very easy to do, or do I make a deal? It’s getting to be decision time,’ the 80-year-old billionaire told Fox News earlier this week.
At a rally in Florida the previous week, Trump also told supporters that ‘we may do another little Epic Fury’, invoking the name of the US bombing campaign.
One of the clearest indications yet that Washington may be preparing for another operation came after Gulf allies were reportedly advised to brace for a ‘short, intense military campaign’, according to The Wall Street Journal.
A White House official said: ‘We do not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist. President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.’
Among the main targets Washington could seek to attack include the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility hidden in central Iran.
Among the main targets Washington could seek to attack include the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility hidden in central Iran (pictured in June 2026)
The secretive underground site was previously struck by the US in 2025, with B-2 stealth bombers hitting it with bunker-busting bombs after taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base and flying across the Atlantic.
President Trump has already indicated the site is already on his hit list, telling Fox News last week: ‘We can read the badge on somebody’s shirt from space, okay? We know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe Mountain. We know the other three [nuclear sites] are obliterated.’
The build-up of naval firepower, combined with dozens of the world’s most sophisticated fighter jets, means the US would also be able to launch huge salvos of cruise missiles at Iran.
Such an arsenal could be unleashed upon the Islamic regime’s electricity network in an effort to plunge Iranian cities into darkness.
The President previously indicated he would strike Iran’s most valuable power plants, starting with ‘the biggest one first’ during the opening exchanges of the war.
Trump never followed through with the threat but could seek to should he resume his bombardment after the midterms.
The country’s largest energy hub is the Damavand Combined Cycle Power Plant on the outskirts of Tehran province.
Also known as the ‘Pakdasht’ plant, it can produce around 2,900 megawatts, which is enough electricity to power several major cities.
Other large Iranian power plants include the Kerman site in the southeast of Iran, with a capacity of about 1,910 megawatts, and the Ramin power plant in the Khuzestan, which can produce about 1,890 megawatts of power.
Iranian missiles ‘Zolfaghar’ on display at the Azadi square in Tehran, Iran
America previously struck Iran’s remote ‘Eagle 44’ underground air force base in March
An image taken from inside the remote underground air base, located deep in the mountains
Military facilities, including those building drones and missiles, as well as major arms depots could also be hit.
America previously struck Iran’s remote ‘Eagle 44’ underground air force base, located deep in a mountainous area of the country’s south, at the end of March.
The bombardment left deep impact craters at and near the tunnel entrances to aircraft shelters, which are hidden under a mountain ridge. Runways were also damaged, disabling them.
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However, reports emerged last week that Iran had managed to carry out a significant number of repairs, with runways having been fixed.
The site, and what remains of Tehran’s air force and drone fleet, could be used to launch limited attacks against the American fleet, meaning it might be one of sites US top brass would seek to eliminate.
Any such air attack by the US would likely be supported by Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, was planning to resume attacks on Iran before the Israeli elections but was blocked by the country’s military.
Tehran has repeatedly warned it would retaliate, striking a wide variety of targets across the region, including US military bases and military and civilian infrastructure in Gulf states.
In recent days, the US military has flown a number of Patriot systems to beef up its missile defences after supplies were depleted during the opening exchanges of the war.
Iranians drive past billboards featuring Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on a street in Tehran, Iran, on October 28
A flurry of C-17 military cargo planes have also reportedly flown into the Middle East and into Israel, which open intelligence analysts have linked to the Patriot battery movements.
It has also moved troops off bases deemed vulnerable to a counter-attack by Iran, officials familiar with the movement told the Wall Street Journal.
Earlier this month the US withdrew all of its B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers from RAF Fairford, in Gloucestershire, after a suspected Iranian sabotage plot was foiled.
As the President continues to weigh up his options, he has reportedly received a rare, in-person briefing from one of America’s top military commanders.
Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads up Central Command and oversees all operations in the Middle East, briefed Trump on Thursday, updating him on the conflict and spelling out potential next steps, the Wall Street Journal claimed.
The senior naval officer is also said to have met with General Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, and JD Vance, the Vice President, for a separate high-level war briefing.
The meetings of senior US politicians and military chiefs lend additional weight to speculation Trump was preparing for a fresh round of strikes on Tehran.
American troops are prepared to launch a new, potentially major, military operation against Iran ‘within 96 hours of receiving’ an order from President Trump, two US officials told CNN.
It’s believed the scope of any impending onslaught would go beyond previous efforts targeting radars, launchers and other Iranian tech that can be quickly reconstituted.
‘It will be a big effort,’ one of the officials told CNN.
The US Army is reportedly delivering Patriot missiles systems into the Middle East
Back in the States, American soldiers have been drilling the grim job of preparing mass graves to bury fallen troops.
The exercise, carried out at the US Army’s camp in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, last week, saw engineers carving out trenches to act as temporary burial sites in the event of a war.
Such mass graves have not been since the Korean War. More recently, the US has had air superiority over its adversaries in the likes of Iraq and Afghanistan, meaning dead soldiers could be transported out of war zones rapidly.
The move suggests the US is putting a growing importance on relearning such macabre skills, which haven’t been needed in decades.
During the drill, American soldiers constructed multiple rudimentary trenches capable of holding 20 dead soldiers each. The plots were dug out in just over an hour.
‘This exercise allowed us to take a critical look at how we respect, honor, and systematically manage our fallen in a high-intensity conflict,’ said Sgt 1st Class Delbert Ruede.
‘If we went to war tomorrow, we would be making this up as we went along. What we are doing here is taking a scientific, field-tested approach so that we can maintain positive control and respectfully care for our fallen.’
While evidence increasingly suggests US strikes look to be on the horizon, efforts are still continuing for a diplomatic solution to be found.
In recent weeks, Qatari officials have been acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran as the two warring powers attempt to come to a peace deal.
Diplomats from the oil-rich Middle Eastern state reportedly delivered a draft proposal by the US to finally draw hostilities to a close on Friday.
A source familiar with the ongoing diplomacy effort told CBS News that it followed a previous draft presented by mediators last Sunday.
Aircraft fly over USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier, which is staged in the Middle East
The Iranians were expected to provide a response to the latest effort to avert a resumption of military action at some point this weekend.
Negotiations have increased in recent days, with the US Vice President credited for having pushed for new talks.
Iran has also continued to discuss its own proposal to end the war, saying it would reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days and provide a route to permanently ending hostilities.
However, the proposal was quickly dismissed by Trump last month.
In a social media post earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragachi said Tehran ‘continues to give diplomacy a chance to succeed’.
But he warned that any ‘Israel-instigated military misadventure’ in the Gulf would have a ‘devastating impact’ on international markets.
Meanwhile, Gulf nations have appealed for calm from both Washington and Tehran, with the United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Ministry calling on both sides to ‘exercise wisdom and pursue political solutions to help contain tensions’.
The conflict has cost $47.1billion so far, according to Pentagon estimates. At the same time, global oil prices have skyrocketed.
America is also believed to have expended about half of its stockpile of Tomahawk cruise missiles, half its Patriots and almost all its long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems and precision-strike missiles.