Map of US naval ships in the Middle East. (Fox News )
Map shows where the U.S. is building up military forces near Iran. (Fox News )
The buildup comes as satellite imagery reveals Tehran accelerating defensive preparations.
Commercial imagery published in a report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) shows Iran reinforcing the Taleghan 2 facility at Parchin with fresh concrete and overburden. Similar hardening is underway at tunnel entrances near Natanz.
"The core issue is all these efforts would complicate the battle damage assessment (BDA) in a post-strike environment," defense analyst Can Kasapoğlu said. Hardened subterranean targets require repeated "drill" strikes — multiple munitions on the same coordinates — followed by confirmation missions to determine whether facilities have been disabled.
That kind of campaign demands sustained sortie generation and deep munitions reserves.
WORLD'S LARGEST AIRCRAFT CARRIER HEADS TO MIDDLE EAST AS IRAN NUCLEAR TENSIONS SPIKE DRAMATICALLY
While the Department of Defense has not released exact aircraft numbers, the regional air presence has expanded significantly.
Advanced fighters, including F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning IIs, have been repositioned to regional hubs. These stealth platforms are designed to suppress air defense systems such as Iran’s S-300 and Bavar-373 batteries.
Once air defenses are degraded, aircraft such as F-15E Strike Eagles and carrier-based F/A-18 Super Hornets would conduct follow-on strikes against missile infrastructure, command nodes and IRGC facilities.
Imagery shows Iranian military facility being buried and fortified. (Images via Vantor with annotations from ISIS )
A F-18E fighter jet takes off from aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford as it sails during NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise on Sept. 24, 2025 in the North Sea. (Jonathan Klein/AFP via Getty Images)
That distinction carries political weight.
A January 2026 Quinnipiac University poll found that 70% of American voters oppose a direct war with Iran, with even higher resistance to deploying ground troops. "Talk of the U.S. military potentially intervening in Iran's internal chaos gets a vigorous thumbs down, while voters signal Congressional approval should be a backstop against military involvement in any foreign crisis," said Quinnipiac analyst Tim Malloy.
Iranian officials have warned that U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Turkey would be targeted if Washington launches an attack. Senior Iranian military figures have said any U.S. strike would be treated as "all-out war."
In response, the U.S. has distributed Patriot and THAAD missile defense batteries across regional hubs to shield its assets from potential missile retaliation.
Despite the military posture, talks are ongoing. Iranian officials have said they will return within weeks with additional proposals aimed at narrowing gaps in negotiations.
President Trump has framed the moment in blunt terms.
"We have to make a deal, otherwise it's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic," Trump said this week, warning that Iran would face consequences if diplomacy collapses.
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"The presence of so much firepower in the region creates a momentum of its own," said Susan Ziadeh, a former U.S. ambassador. "Sometimes that momentum is a little hard to just put the brakes on."
The force now in position — from dual carriers to stealth bombers — is structured not for a single weekend strike, but for endurance.
Whether it is used, and for how long, will depend on decisions still unfolding at the negotiating table.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/built-weeks-war-inside-firepower-us-has-positioned-middle-east