Brink of war: US forces ready for Iran strike as Trump weighs final order

Axios: The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize. It could begin very soon.

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The sources noted it would likely be a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that’s much broader in scope — and more existential for the regime — than the Israeli-led 12-day war last June, which the U.S. eventually joined to take out Iran’s underground nuclear facilities…

CNN: The White House has been briefed that the military could be ready for an attack by the weekend, after a significant buildup in recent days of air and naval assets in the Middle East, the sources said. But one source cautioned that Trump has privately argued both for and against military action and polled advisers and allies on what the best course of action is. It was not clear if he would make a decision by the weekend…

Wall Street Journal: 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…

New York Times: Israeli forces, which have been on heightened alert for weeks, have been making more preparations for a possible war, and a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet was moved to Sunday from Thursday, according to two Israeli defense officials.

Many administration officials have expressed skepticism about the prospects of reaching a diplomatic deal with Tehran. The indirect talks on Tuesday in Geneva ended with what Iran’s foreign minister said was agreement on a “set of guiding principles.” U.S. officials said the two sides made progress but added that big gaps remain…