DONALD Trump is massing a huge Iran strike force including moving the aircraft carrier that dumped Osama Bin Laden’s body to the Persian Gulf.
The US and Israel are planning a major coordinated strike against Iran if Tehran fails to make a new nuke deal, insiders have told The Sun.
The allies are preparing to retaliate against Tehran and its allies’ assaults on Israel, which have plunged the Middle East into turmoil for the past year and a half.
War seems almost “inevitable” if a new nuclear deal can’t be reached, France’s foreign minister has said.
The White House is considering indirect talks with Iran and at the same time boosting its military forces giving Trump a loaded gun if he needs it.
To brace for potential retaliation, the US Navy is increasing the number of carriers in the area, redeploying the USS Carl Vinson – the aircraft carrier involved in the operation that led to Osama Bin Laden’s death.
Already its pal the USS Harry S. Truman – which has been crucial in hammering Iran’s Houthi terror allies with bombs – is there.
Analysts believe the Carl Vinson is currently in the South China Sea and could be in the Persian Gulf as quickly as April 9.
America now also has a third of its B-2 stealth bombers stationed at Diego Garcia.
Satellite photos of the airbase tarmac shows six of America’s 20 B-2 Spirits are now pointed directly at Iran and ready to fly.
The heavy stealth bombers could be carrying bombs big enough to penetrate thick defences at nuclear sites deep underground and wipe them out.
Six Stratotanker in-flight refuelling aircraft can also be seen on the tarmac at the Diego Garcia in fresh satellite images taken today.
These planes would refill the B-2 Spirits and ensure they are able to fly to Iran, deliver the payload, and fly the 2,500miles back to the base.
Tehran, in return, has warned it will blitz a US base with a top Iranian general threatening “they are in a glass house and should not throw stones”.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a warning on Monday, stating, “If any hostile actions are taken, both the Zionist entity and the Americans will face a significant and forceful strike.”
The US could even send a third aircraft carrier to the region as well, with reports of the USS Gerald Ford being sent to the Middle Easy over summer.
Trump has told Iran that it needs to cut a new nuclear deal or he will carry out nuclear action.
He wants direct talks between top teams, but the Iranians have only agreed to talks mediated by Oman.
Some White House officials think a deal is possible, while others think dialogue is a waste of time, Axios reports.
Trump has said he would prefer a deal, but has threatened war if Iran doesn’t cut one within the two-month deadline.
He told NBC on Sunday: “There will be bombs like they’ve never seen before.”
Trump also vowed that he would continue to bomb the Houthis until they are no longer a threat to shipping.
He said on Tuesday: “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you.
“Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.”
Trump added that the Houthis had been “decimated” by “relentless” strikes since March 15, saying that US forces “hit them every day and night — Harder and harder.”
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the US is “prepared to respond to any state or non-state actor seeking to broaden or escalate conflict in the region”.
The USS Carl Vinson was engaged in a heart-stopping moment just days ago when a Russian plane tried to intimidate it.
Moscow‘s Ilyushin Il-38N flew at low altitude just feet away as the aircraft carrier participated in naval exercises between the US, Japan, and South Korea in the East China Sea.
Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers that placed strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Trump then reimposed sweeping US sanctions on Iran and has crippled its economy, leading to protests and the regime almost being toppled.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, producing stocks at a high level of fissile purity, well above what Western powers say is justifiable for a civilian energy programme and close to that required for nuclear warheads.
Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s accelerates nuclear development
Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)
IRAN is believed to have accelerated its nuclear weapons development and is building terrifying nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 1,800 miles (3,000km).
A powerful blast from Iran could impact on several continents due to the chilling capability of the warheads.
Italy, Ukraine, Sudan, India and even large swaths of Russia would all potentially be in the firing line.
They are being developed at two sites in Shahrud and Semnan, which were previously pinned as rocket or space satellite launch sites.
A third site, Sorkheh Hesar, is also said to be carrying out projects, including research on nuclear power and underground explosions.
Nukes are being quickly created under the watchful eye of the regime’s nuclear weaponization entity, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND).
Bosses are developing nuclear warheads for the solid-fuel Ghaem-100 missiles, which are equipped with mobile launch platforms at the Shahrud site.
Iran’s rocket designers have used North Korea’s missiles as a guide to develop the Ghaem-100 missile.
When the missile was in a very early testing stage in 2011, dozens of missile experts were killed at the Modarres site in Tehran.
Personnel vehicles are banned from entering the Shahrud site and are forced to park at a checkpoint before people are transported in.
Meanwhile, they are using the liquid fuel missile Simorgh to develop nuclear warheads in Semnan.
Iran has staged three successful Ghaem-100 missile launches over the past two years, enhancing the regime’s capability to deploy nuclear weapons.
