U.S. Fired First Shot Against Iran

The United States has fired the first shot against Iran, despite engaging in efforts to de-escalate tensions that began with the start of the year after President Donlad Trump threatened the Islamic Republic over a wave of protest that turned deadly.

Late in January, the U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, which began shortly after Trump made his first threat to Iran, reached a whole new level.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group entered the Arabian Sea on January 26, and around the same time the U.S. military’s most advanced electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-37B Compass Call, was sent to the region.

The following days saw the deployment of more warplanes to the Middle East, including F-35A Lightning II fighter jets, EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets, E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) aircraft, an RC-135V Rivet Joint signal intelligence plane, HC-130J Combat King II search and rescue aircraft, and an MC-130J Commando II special operations plane.

Other military assets, mainly MIM-104 Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) air defense systems, were also sent to the region.

Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait have been the focal point of this military buildup.

Amid this escalation, on February 2 it was confirmed that the U.S. and Iran have agreed to hold talks, after mediation from Turkey and other regional powers.

Despite both sides showing some optimism, more escalation was reported on February 3. Three pairs of Iranian gunboats approached a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. warship quickly intervened and escorted the tanker, the Stena Imperative. Later on in the day, a U.S. Navy F-35 shot down an Iranian drone that harassed USS Abraham Lincoln.

These incidents didn’t affect the plans for the talks. However, a demand by Tehran on February 4 to move the talks from Istanbul to Oman’s Muscat, and limit the scope of discussions to the nuclear issue led to a problem. Washington eventually agreed to hold the talks in Muscat on February 6, but is still insisting on including Iran’s missile program and its support for its regional allies in the agenda.

The upcoming talks will not likely produce any result. The two sides are two far apart, even on the nuclear issue. The U.S. likely agreed to the talks to calm down its regional allies, and to distract Iran. The same tactic was employed before Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in June of last year.

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