^{The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford is on its way to the Middle East. Picture: Getty Images.}

U.S. Gathers the Most Air Power in the Mideast Since the 2003 Iraq Invasion

^{President Trump is being briefed on military options for striking Iran, even as aides hold talks with its regime}

Feb. 18, 2026  By Lara Seligman, Michael R. Gordon, Alexander Ward and Shelby Holliday

WASHINGTON—The U.S. is sending significant numbers of jet fighters and support aircraft to the Middle East, assembling the greatest amount of air power in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Yet it still couldn’t be determined whether President Trump would order strikes against Iran—and if he did, whether the aim would be to halt Iran’s already-battered nuclear program, wipe out its missile force or try to topple the regime.Yet it still couldn’t be determined whether President Trump would order strikes against Iran—and if he did, whether the aim would be to halt Iran’s already-battered nuclear program, wipe out its missile force or try to topple the regime.

Over the past few days, the U.S. has continued to move cutting-edge F-35 and F-22 jet fighters toward the Middle East, according to flight-tracking data and a U.S. official. A second aircraft carrier loaded with attack and electronic-warfare planes is on the way. Command-and-control aircraft, which are vital for orchestrating large air campaigns, are inbound. And critical air defenses have been deployed to the region in recent weeks.

“ It may be necessary for the U.S. to use Diego Garcia,” Trump

The firepower will give the U.S. the option of carrying out a sustained, weekslong air war against Iran instead of the one-and-done “Midnight Hammer” strike the U.S. carried out in June against three Iranian nuclear sites, U.S. officials said.

Representatives from the U.S. and Iran met in Geneva this week to negotiate a possible deal over Iranian enrichment of uranium. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there had been “a little bit of progress” in those talks, but added, “We’re still very far apart on some issues.” Iran is expected to offer a more detailed proposal to the U.S. in the next few weeks, Leavitt said.

Trump has received several briefings on his military options should he choose to strike, all of them designed to maximize damage to Iran’s regime and its regional proxies, U.S. officials said.

The options include a campaign to kill scores of Iranian political and military leaders, with the goal of overthrowing the government, U.S. and foreign officials said, as well as an air attack that would be limited to striking targets including nuclear and ballistic-missile facilities. Both would involve a potentially weekslong operation.

Trump hasn’t yet decided whether to order strikes against Iran, the U.S. officials said. His national-security advisers discussed Iran during a meeting in the White House’s Situation Room on Wednesday, according to a senior administration official.

Trump has signaled that he would prefer a diplomatic agreement that, if the U.S. got everything it wanted, would see Iran’s nuclear programs eliminated, regional proxy forces disbanded and ballistic missiles dismantled. Iran is seen as unlikely to agree to the last point, since it doesn’t have much of an air force and relies on missiles as its main deterrent. Trump has indicated that he mainly cares about the nuclear issue, telling reporters he would like Iran to stop enriching uranium.

Meanwhile, some advisers and foreign leaders, such as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are telling Trump that he should use U.S. military pressure to squeeze more concessions out of Tehran. Israel in particular wants to see an end to Iran’s ballistic-missile production, according to officials.

Not all of the weapons the U.S. could use to strike Iran are currently in the Middle East, nor even need to be. B-2 stealth bombers have long trained to carry out Middle East missions directly from the U.S., as they did in June against Iran’s nuclear facilities, or from the joint U.S.-U.K. base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Other long-range U.S. bombers can do the same.

Trump wrote in a social-media post Wednesday that “it may be necessary for the U.S. to use Diego Garcia,” a U.K.-controlled island in the Indian Ocean, for an attack if Iran doesn’t make a nuclear deal. Trump also said the U.S. could use the Fairford air base in the U.K. during the operation. The U.S. military, with its stealth technology and standoff precision weapons, has an overwhelming advantage over Iran, whose air defenses were battered by Israel last year.

Iran has some cards to play in a sustained campaign, including a still-sizable missile arsenal that could be directed at U.S. bases and allies in the region, and military forces that could try to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital sea lane for oil tankers.

On the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea earlier this month. U.S. NAVY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Given the uncertainties, some former military officers said a diplomatic agreement could be preferable to war.

“Frankly, the best that could come out of this is that the dramatic increase in deployed forces will be significant enough of an indicator that Trump is not messing around with the use of force,” thus prompting Iran’s leaders to come to an agreement, said David Deptula, a retired three-star Air Force general who played a major role in the 1991 Desert Storm campaign against Iraq.

But U.S. and foreign officials are increasingly pessimistic that Iran will agree to the U.S.’s demands. Instead, they said, Tehran might only be willing to suspend its nuclear-enrichment activities for a short period—perhaps until Trump is out of office.

Iran hopes it can use negotiations to delay any U.S. attack, but it also realizes that Trump is likely to grow frustrated with prolonged talks and order strikes, according to foreign officials familiar with Tehran’s thinking.

Trump has repeatedly threatened an attack on Iran should negotiations fail. “I don’t think they want the consequences of not making a deal,” he told reporters Monday.

The U.S. Air Force has recently moved dozens of jet fighters and support aircraft to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, according to flight-tracking data. These include additional F-35s, F-15s, F-16s, E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System and E-11 Battlefield Airborne Communications Node aircraft. More fighter aircraft are on their way.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy currently has 13 ships in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean Sea to support a potential operation, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and nine destroyers capable of defending against ballistic missiles, according to a Navy official. A second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and the four destroyers in its strike group are on their way. 

The Pentagon has also moved additional land-based air defenses into place across the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.As formidable as the buildup appears, it is just a fraction of the assets the U.S. deployed for the 1991 Gulf War or the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For the former, the U.S. deployed six aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Ahead of that operation, the U.S. Air Force deployed entire wings of warplanes, instead of the squadrons that are being sent now, to carry out a six-week air campaign.

For Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the U.S. Air Force positioned 863 aircraft in the Middle East. Operation Desert Storm in 1991 included 1,300 U.S. aircraft from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, according to information from Air & Space Forces Magazine.Today’s circumstances are different. The U.S. Air Force is far smaller now, and there are no U.S. and allied ground forces to support. Nor is there much of an international coalition, unless the Israeli air force joins the campaign.

Unlike in 1991, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have put their airspace off-limits for potential U.S. strikes. Many of the U.S. warplanes are concentrated in Jordan.

But military technology, including the ability to carry out precision strikes, employ stealth technology and use space, has improved. 

The Trump administration is still unsure what might come after a bombing campaign. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers in January that the U.S. has no clarity on who would assume power if Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei fell. Many analysts believe the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader would likely take control. 

Antiregime Iranians, whom Trump promised to support during protests that government authorities violently suppressed in January, might revive demonstrations after a U.S. bombing campaign, sensing an opportune moment to increase public pressure on their rulers. This, however, could also present the U.S. with a dilemma on whether to prolong the air war if the regime were to crack down again.

Eliot Cohen, who led a study of the use of air power in Desert Storm for the Air Force and is now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that a punishing air campaign might try to weaken Iran’s leadership in a way that surviving members of the elite would agree to a far-reaching accommodation with Washington.

“If what Trump really wants to do is affect the regime and set back its ability to use missiles to attack American bases, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, it would probably have to be an intense operation that would last weeks or possibly months,” he said.