Iran puts ‘fingers on trigger’ as US armada arrives in Middle East

Iran has put its rhetorical “fingers on the trigger,” the regime’s foreign minister warned Wednesday, as the United States revives threats to mount an attack on the Islamic Republic “with speed and violence.”

Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X , asserted that Iranian armed forces stand ready “to immediately and powerfully” counter any aggression. He argued that Tehran had learned from last year’s 12-day war with Israel — which also drew in the U.S. — to be primed to deliver a more forceful response.

“I do think the threat of a massive Iranian retaliation should be taken seriously,” Ali Vaez, Iran project director for the International Crisis Group, told Military Times. “It’s coming at a time that the regime is basically fighting for its life. It’s in survival mode. Therefore it can act in a reckless way.”

President Donald Trump, who has cited varying rationales for a possible attack, suggested on Wednesday that American strikes would be imminent unless Iran agreed to abandon its nuclear program.

Earlier this month, he pledged to aid civilians as anti-regime protests roiled the country and a deadly government crackdown ensued, though he later said he “convinced himself” not to intervene. Human rights groups contend the death toll from the strife is in the thousands.

There have been no signs of progress in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran since tensions escalated, officials say. The dangerous impasse has prompted key Gulf allies to seek to create a diplomatic off-ramp between Washington and Tehran.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Riyadh ruled out allowing the U.S. to use its airspace or territory for a potential military operation against Iran.

A U.S. official said Washington has three demands for the regime centered around permanently ceasing uranium enrichment; limiting its ballistic missile stockpile; and ending its support for the Axis of Resistance. But there has been no indication that Tehran is prepared to accede to any of those terms.

Trump’s top diplomat called the military buildup in the Middle East a necessary baseline to protect troops.

“We have 30 to 40,000 American troops stationed across eight or nine facilities in that region,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional hearing on Wednesday. “All are within reach of an array of thousands of Iranian one-way UAVs and Iranian short-range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence.

“We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility.”

The linchpin of the American armada is the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that entered the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility on Monday. Washington has also dispatched other assets into the region, including warships and the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, the military said.

Iran, however, has enhanced its naval and short-range missile capabilities with the objective of sinking U.S. warships, according to Vaez.

“All of these in the south [of Iran] have been developed precisely to target U.S. warships. And Iran didn’t use any of these capabilities in the 12-day war, so all of those capabilities are intact,” he said. “The U.S. can no doubt defeat Iran, but it will come with the kind of price tag that so far the president has demonstrated he’s reluctant to pay.”

Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.

伊朗外长周三警告称，随着美国再次威胁要“迅速而暴力地”对伊朗发动攻击，伊朗已在言辞上“将手指放在扳机上”。

阿巴斯·阿拉格奇在X网站上发帖称，伊朗武装部队已做好准备，“立即有力地”反击任何侵略行为。他认为，德黑兰已从去年与以色列长达12天的战争（美国也卷入其中）中吸取教训，做好了更强有力的回应准备。

“我认为伊朗大规模报复的威胁应该被认真对待，”国际危机组织伊朗项目主任阿里·瓦埃兹告诉《军事时报》。“此时此刻，伊朗政权正处于生死存亡的关头，处于生存模式。因此，它可能会采取鲁莽的行动。”

美国总统唐纳德·特朗普曾多次提出发动袭击的理由，他周三暗示，除非伊朗同意放弃其核计划，否则美国将很快发动袭击。

本月初，他曾承诺援助平民，当时反政府抗议活动席卷全国，政府随即展开了血腥镇压。但后来他又表示，他“说服自己”不要干预。人权组织称，这场冲突造成的死亡人数已达数千人。

官员们表示，自美伊紧张局势升级以来，双方谈判未见任何进展迹象。这种危险的僵局促使海湾地区的主要盟友寻求在华盛顿和德黑兰之间建立外交脱身之计。

沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼表示，利雅得已排除允许美国利用其领空或领土对伊朗发动潜在军事行动的可能性。

一位美国官员表示，华盛顿对伊朗政权提出了三项要求，分别是永久停止铀浓缩活动；限制其弹道导弹库存；以及停止支持“抵抗轴心”。但目前没有任何迹象表明德黑兰准备接受其中任何一项条件。

特朗普的高级外交官称，在中东地区加强军事部署是保护军队的必要基础。

“我们在该地区的八九个设施驻扎了3万到4万名美军士兵，”国务卿马可·卢比奥周三在国会听证会上说。“所有这些设施都在数千架伊朗单向无人机和伊朗短程弹道导弹的射程之内，这些武器威胁着我们的驻军。”

“我们必须在该地区拥有足够的武力和实力，才能基本防范这种可能性。”

美国舰队的核心是“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰，该航母于周一进入美国中央司令部的责任区。军方表示，华盛顿还向该地区派遣了其他力量，包括军舰和F-15E“攻击鹰”战斗机。

瓦埃兹表示，伊朗已经增强了其海军和短程导弹能力，其目的是击沉美国军舰。

“伊朗南部所有这些设施都是为了专门攻击美国军舰而开发的。伊朗在12天战争中没有动用过这些能力，所以这些能力依然完好无损，”他说。“美国无疑可以击败伊朗，但这将付出总统迄今为止表现出不愿承担的代价。”

Tanya Noury 是《军事时报》和《防务新闻》的记者，她的报道主要集中在白宫和五角大楼。