Is Iran War Escalation Imminent? Speculation Grows As Trump Cuts Camp David Trip Short.
Both President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made sudden, seemingly unexplained changes to their upcoming itineraries, which has fuelled rumors about a looming intensification of hostilities in Iran.
Trump was meant to leave the presidential country retreat Camp David on Sunday, according to the president’s public schedule. However, a White House pool report revealed that the president returned to the White House on Saturday.
Trump’s return coincided with a new security warning by the State Department, which warned Americans that the “security situation” in the Middle East “remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation”.
“Iran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world, including U.S. businesses and other institutions”, the memorandum continued.
The same security alert was issued by U.S. embassies in Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.
Netanyahu, who was initially scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk as part of a wider diplomatic visit to the U.S., will now travel directly to New York to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday before immediately returning back to Israel, Israeli news channel i24NEWS reported
Reports have also emerged that the Iranian leadership has ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Iranian army and security forces to be at their highest alert this weekend.
Iran claimed on Sunday that it was aware of preparations by the U.S. and its allies for military escalation, warning them that U.S. interests and targets would face retaliation, according to Reuters.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei claimed that Iran sees the possibility of further U.S. strikes as “very much on the cards” in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday.
“The U.S. military vulnerabilities are completely known to us”, Rezaei said. “Should war break out again, U.S. ships, unless they withdraw from the Indian Ocean, will be subject to attack wherever they are located within that ocean.”
In the same interview, Rezaei laid out Iranian conditions for negotiations with the U.S., which included demands for an end to war on all fronts (especially Lebanon), an end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and an end to U.S. interference in Iranian internal affairs.
However, the prospect of negotiation in the immediate future seems unlikely. The U.S. has also escalated its rhetoric against Iran recently, with Trump telling Axios that he was contemplating Iran’s “annihilation”.
“I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me”, the president cautioned.
