The deployment of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful armada” close to Iran’s shores has raised the prospect of the American leader launching a fresh round of military strikes on the country. But even if the White House does press ahead with its threat to attack Iran, there are no guarantees that it will be to the benefit of ordinary Iranians.
The possibility that Trump might be prepared to renew hostilities against Iran has been very much in evidence since the latest wave of anti-government protests swept the country in late December. Protests that were initially focused on the dire state of the Iranian economy, caused by catastrophic falls in the value of the rial, quickly turned into demands for regime change.
When the protests resulted in nationwide violence, with hundreds of protesters reported killed by the security forces, Trump declared that “help was on its way”, and encouraged the protesters to continue with their efforts against the regime.
Trump then appeared to back down from his threat of possible military intervention after receiving assurances from unnamed Iranian officials that the killing of protesters would stop. But since then, the Trump administration has been busily assembling a powerful armada of warships, together with other military assets such as sophisticated air defences.
The aircraft carrier battlegroup, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, is already in the region, along with other military assets, such as F-15 fighters, which were used in last June’s US attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.
'Time is running out'
In one of his most recent posts on Truth Social, Trump made it clear that he was prepared to launch military action against Tehran if it did not agree with his demand to completely dismantle its nuclear programme and warned that a "massive Armada was heading to Iran" with "speed and violence". "Time is running out", he said, advising Iran to "come to the table".
