DUBAI (AP) — Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out.
President Donald Trump has said he hopes to reach a deal with Iran, but the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.
The movements of additional American warships and airplanes, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don’t guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran — but it bolsters Trump’s ability to carry out one should he choose to do so.
The Iranian delegation to indirect talks held on Tuesday said they would present more detailed proposals in the next two weeks to narrow gaps, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Trump warned on social media that if Iran doesn’t make a deal, the U.S. might have to “eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation’s citizens to immediately leave Iran as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff.
The German military said that it had moved “a mid-two digit number of non-mission critical personnel” out of a base in northern Iraq because of the current situation in the region and in line with its partners’ actions. It said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces.
