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Fresh from the<\/span> conflict with Venezuela last month, the USS Gerald R. Ford \u2014 America\u2019s newest and largest aircraft carrier \u2014 is speeding through the Mediterranean and toward a potential war with Iran. Another aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln is already deployed to the Middle East. The military pressure campaign, which could allow the U.S. to begin sustained attacks in a matter of days, is part of the Trump administration\u2019s multipronged effort to pressure Iran to cease a nuclear program whose key sites, according to President Donald Trump, were \u201ccompletely and fully obliterated<\/a>\u201d in U.S. attacks last year.<\/p>\n America\u2019s latest gunboat diplomacy gambit comes as Trump\u2019s two main envoys, his friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, have engaged in indirect talks with Iranian diplomats in Geneva. The talks are taking place even though Trump previously said no agreement with Iran was necessary. \u201cI don\u2019t care if I have an agreement or not,\u201d he announced last June. \u201cI could get a statement that they\u2019re not going to go nuclear.\u201d Trump added<\/a>: \u201cThey\u2019re not going to be doing it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump reversed himself<\/a> late last month imploring Iran to \u201cquickly \u2018Come to the Table\u2019\u201d or face more strikes. On Thursday, at a gathering of his self-styled Board of Peace in Washington, Trump reiterated his call for a deal. \u201cNow is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we\u2019re doing,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cIf it doesn\u2019t happen, it doesn\u2019t happen. But bad things will happen if it doesn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA massive Armada is heading to Iran,\u201d Trump announced<\/a> on Truth Social.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The United States has, in fact, spent weeks moving military assets into place for a potential resumption of the war on Iran. The Ford alone can carry more than 75 aircraft, including F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters and F\/A-18 Super Hornets, as well as EA-18 Growler radar-jamming jets.\u00a0The Lincoln is accompanied by three warships that are equipped with Tomahawk missiles, which were used to strike two of Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities last June. In addition to destroyers, cruisers, and submarines at sea, the U.S. has moved additional air assets needed for sustained conflict across the Atlantic including a\u00a0U-2 Dragon Lady\u00a0spy plane, dozens of refueling tankers, scores of additional fighter jets, and critical E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System jets, which can provide advanced radar, communications, and sensors to track and thwart planes, drones, and cruise missiles.<\/p>\n The massive accumulation of military forces in preparation for a potential war with Iran dwarfs even the monthslong build-up that proceeded the U.S. coup in Venezuela that saw its leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro deposed and power transferred to a U.S.-backed puppet regime.<\/p>\n Three U.S. officials with long experience in the Middle East told The Intercept that they do not believe Trump has made a final decision to launch a new attack on Iran but the chances of it are high. All said that the U.S. attacks could possibly destabilize the Iranian regime, spur a grave humanitarian crisis, and have major impacts across the region. None thought the Trump administration had anything but vague plans to deal with such blowback<\/a>.<\/p>\n All three officials believed that sufficient U.S. military assets were in place for a sustained military campaign. One said that Tehran may see the second major U.S. attack in a year as an existential crisis and respond by launching a more formidable counterattack than its ineffectual strikes on America\u2019s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the past month, the U.S. military has moved critical air defense equipment \u2014 including Patriot missile batteries and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense systems, also known as THAAD \u2014 to the region to protect U.S. troops and allies from Iranian ballistic missiles.<\/p>\n Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he believes reports that Trump administration officials think there\u2019s a 90 percent chance the president will order strikes on Iran. He said that such a war would be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d and lead to counterattacks that put U.S. troops in the region at risk.<\/p>\n Iran has repeatedly warned of retaliatory strikes on U.S. troops and allies in response to any American attack. Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week to conduct military exercises.\u00a0<\/p>\n Khanna announced on Thursday that he and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., would attempt to force a vote on a war powers resolution regarding Iran next week. \u201cI am confident we can win this vote and assemble a bipartisan coalition,\u201d Khanna told The Intercept. Khanna believes they can force the vote before Trump attacks Iran, but one of the government officials expressed concern that strikes could come as early as Sunday or Monday. Another speculated that Trump might be convinced not to conduct an attack during Ramadan \u2014 the Muslim holy month that began Wednesday \u2014 or at least wait for a \u201cdecent interval\u201d in deference to other U.S. allies in the Middle East.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n