Trump warns about

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran held annual military exercises with Russia on Thursday as a second U.S. aircraft carrier approached the Middle East, and both the United States and Iran signaled they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fail.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he believes 10 to 15 days is “enough time” for Iran to reach a deal. But talks have been stalled for years and Iran has refused to discuss broader demands from the United States and Israel to reduce its missile program and sever ties with armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks have made little visible progress, and one or both sides may be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever after 12 days of Israeli and US attacks on its nuclear and military facilities last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently repressed.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., said that while Iran does not seek “tension or war and will not start a war,” any U.S. aggression will be responded to “decisively and proportionally.”

“Under such circumstances, all bases, facilities and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets in the context of Iran’s defensive response,” Iravani said.

Earlier this week, Iran conducted a drill involving live fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening to the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

Tensions are also rising within Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies honoring protesters killed 40 days after their deaths at the hands of security forces. Some meetings have seen anti-government chants despite threats from the authorities.

Masoud Nazari Mehrabi via AP

Trump threatens Iran again

The movements of additional U.S. warships and aircraft, with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, do not guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran, but they bolster Trump’s ability to carry out one if he so chooses.

It has so far postponed its attack on Iran after drawing red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and mass executions, while it resumes nuclear talks that were interrupted by the war in June.

Iran agreed to draft a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said senior national security officials met Wednesday to discuss Iran and were informed that the “full forces” needed to carry out possible military action are expected to be ready by mid-March. The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to provide its written response.

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“Over the years, it has been shown that it is not easy to reach a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to reach a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things will happen,” Trump said Thursday.

With the growing U.S. military presence in the region, a senior regional government official said he had stressed to Iranian officials in private conversations that Trump has demonstrated that his rhetoric should be taken at face value and that he is serious about his threat to carry out an attack if Iran does not offer adequate concessions.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic talks, said he has advised Iranians to look at how Trump has approached other international issues and draw lessons about how he should move forward.

The official added that he has argued to the Trump administration that it could obtain concessions from Iran in the short term by focusing on nuclear issues and putting off pressure on Tehran to reduce its ballistic missile program and support for the proxy group.

The official also said Trump’s order for a limited strike aimed at putting pressure on Iran could backfire and lead Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to withdraw Iran from the talks.

Growing international concern

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation’s citizens to leave Iran immediately as “within a few, a dozen or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He gave no further details and the Polish embassy in Tehran did not appear to be reducing its staff.

The German military said it had pulled “a mid-double-digit number of non-mission critical personnel” from a base in northern Iraq due to the current situation in the region and in line with the actions of its partners. He said some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp in Irbil operating, where they train Iraqi forces.

“This week, another 50 US fighter jets (F-35, F-22 and F-16) were ordered to the region, complementing the hundreds deployed at bases in the Arab Gulf states,” wrote the New York-based think tank Soufan Center. “The deployments reinforce Trump’s threat – reiterated almost daily – to proceed with a major air and missile campaign against the regime if the talks fail.”

CYRIL ZINGARO via AP

Iran conducts drills with Russia

Iranian forces and Russian sailors held annual exercises in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean with the aim of “improving operational coordination as well as the exchange of military experiences,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

Footage released by Iran showed members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard naval special forces boarding a ship in the exercise. Those forces are believed to have been used in the past to seize vessels in key international waterways.

Iran also issued a rocket launch warning to pilots in the region, suggesting it planned to launch anti-ship missiles in the exercise.

Meanwhile, tracking data showed the Ford off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean at noon on Wednesday, meaning the carrier could transit Gibraltar and potentially park in the eastern Mediterranean with its supporting guided missile destroyers.

It would probably be more than a week until the Ford was off the coast of Iran.

Netanyahu warns Iran

Israel is making its own preparations for possible Iranian missile attacks in response to any US action.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”

Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, has long pushed for tougher US action against Iran and says any deal should not only end its nuclear program but also curb its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has said current talks should only focus on its nuclear program and that it has not been enriching uranium since attacks by the United States and Israel last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “destroyed” Iran’s nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has banned international inspectors from entering.

Iran has always insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful. The United States and others suspect their goal is to eventually develop weapons. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons, but has neither confirmed nor denied it.

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News journalists Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland; Geir Moulson in Berlin; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Aamer Madhani and Michelle Price in Washington contributed to this report.