America massively ramped up military pressure on Iran today with more deadly naval forces and another formation of EA-18G Growler radar jamming planes and KC-46 aerial refuelling tankers.
Guided missile destroyer USS Delbert D Black steamed into the region, adding to a powerful armada of ten warships including aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. It means as many as four destroyers are now off Iran as Tehran’s military continued to send spy drones close to the fleet to monitor preparations for airstrikes and war.
In addition Six more EA-18G “Growler” electronic warfare planes and KC-46 tankers were in the air heading for the Middle East, along with four Pegasus air fuelling tankers from their US bases.
The Growlers would be used in the event of an attack to block Iranian radar detection systems as Lincoln’s F35C and Super Hornet warplanes targeted sites within Iran. It came after warning from by US President Trump Iran is “running out of time” and Tehran’s shadowy Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared it is “fully prepared” for war with America and the military stand-off intensified at sea.
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Mohammad Ghalibaf, Iranian Parliament Speaker, said: “We are ready to negotiate with the US if the negotiations are sincere and genuine. Iran will respond if it is attacked and thousands of American military personnel will be at risk. Trump may be able to start a war but he has no control over how it will end.”
In the area around the Persian Gulf spy drones from both sides were watching each other carefully in the countdown to a possible outbreak of war. Israeli forces are on high-alert to scramble air defence systems if Tehran decides on a pre-emptive strike ahead of Trump’s decision.
The European Union slapped fresh sanctions on 15 Iranian officials, including top commanders of the IRGC over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on protests. One EU official compared the sanctioned individuals to members of al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas said: “This will put them on the same footing with al-Qaeda Hamas, Daesh,” using an Arabic acronym for the so-called Islamic State group. “If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as a terrorist.”
Six Iranian organisations, including online monitoring bodies were also targeted. It marks the latest Western response over the violence which activists say has killed more than 6,300 people.
The measures add to international pressure on the Islamic Republic as it faced US threats to potentially launch a military strike against it. Iran has kept up its own threats as well, saying it could launch a pre-emptive strike or broadly target the Middle East, including American military bases and Israel.
It remains unclear what President Trump will decide about using force, though he has threatened to use it in response to the killing of demonstrators and executions. But the move by Europe will put new pressure on Iran as its economy already struggles under the weight of international sanctions.
One UK security source said: “America knows Iran has never been so vulnerable to attack in years, after its proxies Hezbollah and other have been so dismantled by Israel over the Gaza war. Everyone knows how difficult regime change would be in Tehran so it may be that the US will seize this moment.”
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