Fresh WW3 fears as US may blitz Iran in days and Trump strikes jets into hanging vary

US Air Force jets were moved into striking range of Iran, prompting fresh fears of an imminent strike and the potential outbreak of World War Three

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America could blitz Iran within days after UK-based US Air Force jets were moved within strike range of the Middle East, sources said.

Flight-tracking data showed 250 cargo flights carrying weapons and military equipment heading to the region from the US. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has moved in. The USS Gerald Ford carrier is on the way.

Multiple fighter aircraft have been given diplomatic clearance to enter Jordanian airspace, according to open source air traffic communications. Satellite images show 12 US F-15 attack planes at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.

Open Source Intel, which monitors events in the Middle East and US, posted flight map illustrations on X showing a stream of aircraft refueling tankers heading from America across Europe towards the Gulf.

The account said: “Non stop tankers on the move, absolutely nuts.”

The build-up gives the US President Donald Trump extensive strike options and suggests he may be about to order an attack.

Guided-missile destroyers steaming with the aircraft carriers can carry dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 1,000 miles and 1,000lb conventional warheads.

US Navy carrier units usually operate with an attack submarine that can also launch Tomahawks.

F-35 and F-15E fighter jets can carry an array of guided bombs and air-to-surface missiles.

The military manoeuvres come amid ongoing US talks with Iran in a bid to stop the Middle East nation obtaining nuclear weapons.

Asked why the USS Ford was heading to the region, President Trump said: “In case we don’t make a deal, we’ll need it.”

He said he thought the talks would be ‘successful’, adding: “If they’re not it’s going to be a very bad day for Iran.”

Polymarket – which calculates the chances of real-life events – estimated there was a 47% chance of a US attack on Iran.

Military experts said the buildup served two purposes – to put pressure on Iran to pledge to pull back on its nuclear program and, should talks fail, be ready to strike immediately and dramatically.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said a meeting with US negotiators in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday yielded an agreement on ‘guiding principles’ for future talks with the two sides planning on exchanging drafts for a potential agreement.

Araghchi said no timeline has been set for the exchange or for future negotiations.

“We have reached understandings on the guiding principles but the drafting and writing phase of the agreement will be more difficult,” he said.

“Right now we have a much clearer picture of what work needs to happen and what work needs to continue.

“Of course both sides still have work to do to get closer together but at least now we have a framework and a clearer path to go on.”

President Trump has been threatening military action against Iran for weeks. Last month he warned Iranian leaders he would attack if the government did not stop killing protesters.

At the weekend he said he believes regime change ‘would be the best thing that could happen’ in Iran.

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional hearing ‘no-one knows’ who would take over if the regime fell with the possibility an alternative may be even more hard-line.

Iran announced naval drills that would close parts of the Strait of Hormuz and simulate ‘real maritime threats’.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps drones are positioned at Iran’s southern tip ready to confront any aggressors.

Armed forces chief of staff Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi has warned: “Trump should know that he would be entering a confrontation that gives harsh lessons, the outcome of which would ensure that he no longer bellows threats around the world.”