Who is really calling the shots here: U.S. Adm. Brad Cooper, left, or IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir?<\/p>\n
Commander of the United States Central Command Adm. Brad Cooper was in Israel on Saturday for meetings with senior officials, The Times of Israel learned, as US President Donald Trump indicated he was maintaining the possibility of strikes on Iran amid its crackdown on protests.<\/p>\n
Cooper met with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder and Operations Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Itzik Cohen also participated in a meeting with the military chiefs.<\/p>\n
The IDF has been on high alert and has carried out preparations in recent weeks after Trump threatened military action against Iran.<\/p>\n
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were also in Israel on Saturday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, mainly to discuss Gaza, two people briefed on the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n
Trump has threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful demonstrators, but he recently backed away, claiming Iran halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters. He has not elaborated on the source of the claim, which Iran\u2019s top prosecutor called \u201ccompletely false.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Trump appears to be keeping his options open, saying Thursday aboard Air Force One that his threatened military action would make last year\u2019s US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites \u201clook like peanuts\u201d if the government proceeded with planned executions of some protesters.<\/p>\n
He added that the United States had an \u201carmada\u201d heading toward Iran, including an aircraft carrier group and its thousands of troops, but hoped he would not have to use it.<\/p>\n
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers left the South China Sea and began heading west earlier this week, a US Navy official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military movements, said Friday that the Lincoln strike group was in the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n
An official source quoted by Fox News said the strike group had yet to enter CENTCOM\u2019s sphere of command and is not expected to be within striking distance of Iran for several more days or even a week.<\/p>\n
When they arrive in the region, those warships would join three littoral combat ships, which were in port in Bahrain on Friday, as well as two other US Navy destroyers, which were at sea in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
The arrival of the carrier strike group would bring roughly 5,700 additional service members. The US has several bases in the Middle East, including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which hosts thousands of American troops and is the forward headquarters for US Central Command.<\/p>\n
Central Command said on social media that the Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Mideast, noting the fighter jet \u201cenhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, the UK Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar \u201cin a defensive capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysts of flight-tracking data have noticed dozens of US military cargo planes also heading to the region.<\/p>\n
The activity is similar to last year when the US moved in air defense hardware, like a Patriot missile system, in anticipation of an Iranian counterattack following the bombing of three key nuclear sites in June during the Israel-Iran war. Iran launched over a dozen missiles at Al Udeid Air Base days after the strikes.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the arrival of the US aircraft carrier strike group and other military assets to the Middle East in the coming days, a senior Iranian official said Friday that Iran will treat any attack \u201cas an all-out war against us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis military buildup \u2014 we hope it is not intended for real confrontation \u2014 but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,\u201d said the senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time we will treat any attack \u2014 limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic, whatever they call it \u2014 as an all-out war against us, and we will respond in the hardest way possible to settle this,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Americans violate Iran\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond,\u201d added the Iranian official. He declined to specify what an Iranian response might look like.<\/p>\n
\u201cA country under constant military threat from the United States has no option but to ensure that everything at its disposal can be used to push back and, if possible, restore balance against anyone who dares to attack Iran,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n
Also Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed there were signs that Israel was still seeking an opportunity to attack Iran, warning such a move could further destabilize the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they find a different path, but the reality is that Israel, in particular, is looking for an opportunity to strike Iran,\u201d Fidan said in a televised interview.<\/p>\n