Iran Preparing for War With US

The people inside Iran are looking up to the sky every day, waiting for the sound of American planes.

This is no exaggeration.

Everyone is holding their breath.

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— ðð¢ð¨ð¡ ððžð«ð  ︎ (@NiohBerg) February 18, 2026

URGENT: Poland has urged its citizens to evacuate from Iran immediately

Prime Minister Tusk said, “in a few hours, there may be no more possibility to evacuate Poles from Iran.” pic.twitter.com/cgcDDCZbmm

— Tousi TV (@TousiTVOfficial) February 19, 2026

Iran preparing for war with US. And, presumably, Israel.

Iran’s leaders talking about a nuclear deal with the U.S., but they are also rushing to prepare for war in case talks between the countries fail. Tehran is deploying its forces, dispersing decision-making authority, fortifying its nuclear sites and expanding its crackdown on domestic dissent. The moves reflect its leaders’ belief that the survival of the regime itself is at stake…. Iran has also been conducting work at its nuclear sites to better protect them from strikes, according to satellite imagery published and analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security, a think tank based in Washington. The satellite images show that Tehran has been hardening and strengthening tunnel entrances at its Isfahan site—where Iran is believed to have kept much of its highly enriched uranium and which was heavily damaged by U.S. and Israeli attacks last June—and at a deep underground tunnel complex in what is known as Pickaxe Mountain (Wall Street Journal).

IRAN TONIGHT:

The people of Najaf Abad, Esfahan Province, are in the streets.

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— ðð¢ð¨ð¡ ððžð«ð  ︎ (@NiohBerg) February 18, 2026

https://twutter.com/visegrad24/status/2024447794287608089?s=20

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Trump could launch ‘sustained’ attack on Iran within days after US military’s ‘unprecedented’ Middle East buildup

By Caitlin Doornbos, NY POst, Feb. 18, 2026, 4:21 p.m. ET

A massive US military buildup in the Middle East suggests the US could be ready to launch a “sustained” bombing campaign on Iran in weeks — or even days — should Tehran continue refusing President Donald Trump’s demands in ongoing negotiations.

With a second aircraft carrier en route to the region and a flood of hundreds of strike, support and other aircraft already nearby, the sheer scale of forces now positioned in the region alone is highly unusual — and unprecedented in recent decades, former Pentagon official and Atlantic Council fellow Alex Plitsas told The Post.

“What we have amassed is an unprecedented size combination of land-based attack aircraft, command and control and sea-based platforms,” he said. “We haven’t seen a buildup like this in this region in decades.”

While last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer took just 25 minutes to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, a new campaign could last days to weeks, US officials told The Post.

The deployment — including carrier strike groups, land-based aircraft, refueling tankers and command-and-control assets — gives Trump the option to launch what Plitsas described as a sustained air and naval campaign without committing US ground troops.
“The military footprint tells us that that option is quite large,” he said. “This is sufficient firepower for a sustained and very large air and naval strike campaign.”

That much firepower would allow the US to launch a massive military campaign if Trump so chooses — with options ranging from targeted strikes on weapons facilities and mid-level officials to full-blown decapitation strikes that would eliminate the current radical Islamist Khamenei regime.

“The only thing that any of this tells us for sure is the range of options on the table and what’s in and what’s out,” Plitsas said.

The president could decide against military action entirely, but the time remaining for that may soon run out.

“Diplomacy is always his first option, and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.

Timelines and targets
The buildup comes after Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said Iran had failed to meet several of Trump’s negotiating “red lines” despite some progress in talks in Geneva that day.

“It was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through,” Vance told Fox News host Martha MacCallum.

The bold statement in addition to the massive military buildup indicates Trump is dead-serious about getting what he demands, a source familiar with the White House’s discussions told The Post.

“The message to the Iranians is crystal clear: Come to the table, meet the red lines and get a deal done — or else,” the person said.

But Leavitt said the US and Iran are “still very far apart on some issues.”

“I believe the Iranians are expected to come back to us with some more detail in the next couple of weeks, and so the President will continue to watch us,” she said.

Two weeks is also the approximate timeline it will take for the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to arrive in region, military experts have predicted.

The president previously gave Tehran a two-week notice to come to the table on nuclear talks in June 2025 — only to turn around and order the US to destroy Iranian nuclear sites before that timeline ran out.

“If you look at the timeline for them to respond the Vice President’s comments and the military buildup, what it tells us is that we are already at the potential for a massive campaign at any point if the president choose to order it,” a source familiar with White House discussions told The Post.

Leavitt said Trump is consulting “many people” to determine how to proceed — “his national security team first and foremost.”

“This is something obviously the President takes seriously,” she said. “He’s always thinking about what’s in the best interest of the United States of America, of our military, of the American people, and that’s how he makes decisions with respect to military action.”

If a decision is made to move forward with strikes, military planning experts say strikes must first prioritize Iran’s abilities to retaliate.

“What you need to do initially is take out the missiles, the launchers and the drones and drone factors, if you can, right away to prevent retaliatory strikes against US forces and the Israelis in the region,” Plitsas said.

President Donald Trump speaking to reporters at the White House.
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President Trump has given the Iranians two weeks to come back with a better deal after talks stalled on Tuesday.
MediaPunch / BACKGRID
After that, the US would have a range of options at its disposal, from targeting Iranian officials instrumental in January’s brutal crackdown on protesters despite Trump’s repeated warnings — all the way to potential decapitation strikes to take out Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his leadership.

With so many options on the table, there are more questions than answers.

“If it happens, it’s going to be weeks of sustained campaigns,” the source familiar with discussions told The Post. “Questions are who survives the opening strikes? If that happens, who’s in charge? You know, when do we stop?”

“Is just a [Venezuelan dictator Nicolas] Maduro-type thing where we do a quick, fast decapitation, take out the missiles, everything else, and negotiate with what’s left?” the person added.

US vs. Israel’s priorities
A key complication is that different players in the region have different priorities, Plitsas said.

For Washington, the main concern remains Iran’s nuclear program, including stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. For Israel, the urgent threat is Tehran’s growing ballistic missile arsenal, which Plitsas said is expanding by roughly 300 missiles per month and could soon exceed defensive interception capacity.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sitting and smiling.
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Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has shown no willingness to meet some of President Trump’s “red-line” issues.
ZUMAPRESS.com
“At some point, you go from having sufficient missiles to serve as a deterrent to building a stockpile that’s sufficient for war,” he said. “When they cross that threshold … it’s going to invite an Israeli strike.”

Regional partners are also focused on Iranian-backed proxy groups, creating a three-front problem that a nuclear-only agreement would not solve.

“Even if the US strikes a great nuclear deal, if that does not extend into a deal over the ballistic missiles as well, that doesn’t mean the Israelis are going to be satisfied,” the US source familiar told The Post. “If it doesn’t include the proxy groups, other regional partners may not be satisfied either.”

The person further warned that limiting negotiations solely to nuclear issues could actually increase the likelihood of conflict — particularly if Iran continues expanding its missile arsenal.