The US has amassed an arsenal of military assets in the Middle East that would allow it to launch an aerial bombing campaign against Iran
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with reports that Donald Trump is considering an early strike to force the Iranians to the negotiating table. An early strike could likely target specific government buildings or military sites and may be limited enough so as not to provoke a full-scale retaliation from Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.
One unnamed official told the Journal that aides had also discussed large-scale operations, which could involve increasingly larger strikes with an eventual aim of ending the Iranian regime’s nuclear work or the collapse of the government.
The reports come after Trump publicly told Iran that it has “10 to 15 days” to cut a deal over its nuclear program, as the US continues its vast military build up in the region.
