{"id":305392,"date":"2026-02-23T04:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305392\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T04:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:01:10","slug":"us-military-buildup-signals-potential-strike-on-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/305392\/","title":{"rendered":"US military buildup signals potential strike on Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs I understand it, this is the biggest military buildup in the Middle East since 2003,\u201d Col. Richard Kemp<\/a>, a former British Army commander, told The Media Line. He paused on the comparison. The amount of force now in place, he said, is greater than what was visible during the 12-day war in June 2025<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s very significant military power,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

For more stories from The Media Line go to themedialine.org<\/a><\/p>\n

For weeks, the word \u201cimminent\u201d has circulated in Washington and across the region. But timelines remain unclear. It could unfold quickly. It could take longer. Kemp\u2019s focus was less on rhetoric and more on the military posture taking shape around Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s likely there will be a military strike, but I don\u2019t think you\u2019d say it\u2019s inevitable,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s very likely.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2003 comparison is not just a line for emphasis. The footprint on the ground and at sea has grown noticeably in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

There are now four American carrier strike groups either in the wider Middle East or moving toward it. That alone changes the equation. In the surrounding waters, roughly a dozen guided-missile destroyers are spread out, some near the Strait of Hormuz, others operating closer to the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

\"Col.Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)<\/p>\n

The United States already had a large presence in the region. More than 40,000 personnel are stationed across military bases and naval assets. With the arrival of the most recent carrier group, several thousand more service members are being added to that total.<\/p>\n

The air posture has shifted as well. Long-range B-52 bombers and B-2 stealth aircraft have been placed on higher readiness. Additional fighter jets, including F-16s, F-22s, and F-35s, have been moved forward. At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, alert levels have been raised. The adjustments are not only about striking capacity. They also reflect concern over what might follow.<\/p>\n

Taken together, the concentration is difficult to dismiss as routine.<\/p>\n

The 12-day war in June 2025, which began on June 13, had a defined military purpose. Kemp described that round as focused primarily on Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles and on its nuclear program. Israel led the bulk of that campaign, striking air defenses and missile-related targets. The United States joined toward the end. The fighting was intense but limited in scope. It was not framed as an effort to dismantle the regime itself.<\/p>\n

Trump would likely prefer to force Tehran into concessions<\/p>\n

Kemp commented that President Donald Trump<\/a> would likely prefer to force Tehran into concessions without resorting to open war. \u201cI think he would prefer Iran to buckle under the military pressure that\u2019s been building up around them and make significant concessions, particularly on the nuclear program, but also on ballistic missiles and potentially on sponsoring terrorist proxies in the region as well,\u201d he said. \u201cHe would like to be able to stand up and say, \u2018I have resolved this through negotiations rather than through military force.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kemp expressed doubt that Iran would offer concessions that are both meaningful and durable. \u201cNothing that Iran agrees to or says can be trusted,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll just use it as a tactic to buy time for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

If diplomacy fails, the forces now deployed suggest preparation for something more than a limited strike designed to send a message. Kemp explained that the buildup must be understood in two layers. One layer concerns offensive capability. The other pertains to the protection of American personnel and regional allies.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is what you need to actually damage Iran, bring down the regime, destroy the key components in Iran that are used offensively against other countries in the Middle East, of course, Israel particularly,\u201d he said. \u201cThe second element is defensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

American forces stationed across the Gulf<\/a>, including in Qatar, would be exposed to Iranian missiles and allied militias in the event of military action. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would have to consider their own vulnerability. Israel would almost certainly be a primary target of retaliation. Kemp noted that defending \u201csuch a wide range of targets\u201d requires substantial resources, not only aircraft and ships but also layered missile defenses and regional coordination.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kemp also suggested the possibility of preemptive or parallel action against Iranian proxies. Hezbollah in Lebanon has been significantly weakened since last year, he said, but it still retains the ability to launch missiles into Israel. The Houthis in Yemen remain capable of long-range attacks. \u201cThey would have to be dealt with either before a US strike in Iran, or at the same time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a much more intensive attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question of duration is central. Would a new confrontation resemble the compressed timeline of June 2025, or would it evolve into something longer?<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say much longer than a couple of days,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cIt could run into weeks. It could well be a fairly long, sustained bombing campaign against Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that planners would assess results continuously. Objectives would be defined in advance, but the campaign’s length would depend on whether those objectives were being met. \u201cThey won\u2019t probably know now how long it\u2019s going to last,\u201d he said. \u201cIt depends on the effect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi, founder of the Israel Defense and Security Forum, framed the moment in even starker terms. He told The Media Line strategic debate has already moved beyond nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe objective of the 12-day war was to destroy their nuclear capability and stop the rapid buildup with ballistic missiles,\u201d Avivi said. \u201cNow we are talking about taking down the regime. It is something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his view, Tehran misread the aftermath of June 2025. Rather than de-escalating, Avivi said, Iran continued to channel resources into missile development and into sustaining its regional network of proxies, despite domestic hardship. \u201cThere is no way to stop this threat and the instability in the Middle East without dismantling this regime,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Avivi suggested that under certain conditions, including accurate intelligence and rapid targeting of command structures, the regime could be brought down within weeks. \u201cI think in two weeks it could be done,\u201d he said, while acknowledging that much depends on internal dynamics inside Iran.<\/p>\n

He argued that the real variable is not only missiles or aircraft, but the public itself. Iran is under economic strain, he said, and dissatisfaction has not disappeared. Should outside military action align with renewed unrest, the regime would be confronting pressure internally as well as externally.<\/p>\n

Kemp, while more cautious, also indicated that leadership targets would likely be central if the objective extends to regime collapse. \u201cIf the objective is to topple the regime, then one of the primary targets has to be the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He did not rule out unconventional elements. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we see troops on the ground,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cI don\u2019t mean large scale. I\u2019m talking about special forces commandos, maybe, to directly take out the Ayatollah and some of the other leadership. I don\u2019t think we should exclude the possibility of that happening, as well as the air campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boots on the ground<\/p>\n

Avivi rejected the idea that a regime-focused campaign would necessarily require large foreign ground forces. If there are \u201cboots on the ground,\u201d he said, they would not belong to American or Israeli troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boots on the ground are the Iranian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his view, sustained military pressure from the outside could intersect with growing frustration inside the country. Economic hardship, infrastructure shortages, and political repression have eroded confidence in the leadership, he argued. If the regime\u2019s military backbone weakens, domestic unrest could do the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to eliminate the leadership,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need to break their military capability completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about proxy escalation, Avivi said the likelihood is \u201cvery high\u201d if Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other aligned groups interpret the confrontation as existential. He added that he had spoken recently with senior Israeli military leadership and described a sense of readiness and alertness. \u201cThere is no 100%,\u201d he said, acknowledging that ballistic missiles would likely strike Israel and present serious challenges.<\/p>\n

The difference from June 13, 2025, is therefore not only the scale of American hardware now visible in the region. It is also the objective being articulated by some of those assessing the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary target,\u201d Kemp said, \u201cis going to be the leadership and the effort to try and bring the regime down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether the objective can be achieved primarily from the air, requires limited ground operations, or results in order or prolonged instability remains uncertain. What appears less uncertain, in their assessment, is that the current posture is not designed for symbolism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s needed in order to sufficiently damage the regime,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cNot a token strike.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAs I understand it, this is the biggest military buildup in the Middle East since 2003,\u201d Col. Richard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,83420,42,87,15005,43,7991,40,38,41,39,1032,48717],"class_list":{"0":"post-305392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-gulf-states","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-iran","12":"tag-israel-iran-war","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-the-media-line","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-us-military"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}