The United States has deployed A-10 attack jets and squadrons of F-15E fighters to the Middle East as tensions with Iran spike and diplomatic talks in Oman make no headway. US media reporting and Pentagon movements show an unusually heavy air presence in the region, with A-10s positioned in Jordan and multiple F-15E units flown from bases in the United States and the United Kingdom to regional airfields. The scale of the airlift and the mix of platforms — close air support, strike fighters and electronic warfare assets — underscore that Washington is keeping a kinetic option on the table.
The aircraft being staged perform different tasks but together signal readiness for both precision strikes and longer-range deep-strike operations. The A-10, a legacy close air support aircraft slated for retirement by 2029, lacks modern radar but remains valued for its survivability and low-altitude firepower. The F-15E, a dual-role strike fighter, is routinely used for precision ground attack and air defence escort, and the US deployments include electronic-warfare and unmanned systems that expand options beyond manned strike sorties.
Logistics reveal the strain behind the posture: hundreds of personnel and materiel have been airlifted into the theatre, with scores of large transport flights reported in recent weeks and some units shifted from other regional commitments. That redistribution — including assets initially earmarked for other missions — highlights a trade-off in US force planning and raises questions about sustainability if a prolonged campaign were to begin. Washington's visible preparation is also shaped by political calculations at home; the administration's statements juxtapose hard-power readiness with intermittent diplomatic language.
Diplomatically, the picture is unsettled. Iranian officials say talks in Oman produced no breakthrough and have publicly signalled consultations with Beijing and Moscow. Tehran has reiterated its refusal to abandon uranium enrichment and other strategic capabilities, and Israeli leaders continue to press Washington for a tougher line, insisting any final settlement must curb Iran's missile programme as well as its nuclear activities. In response, the US has tightened economic measures and diplomatic pressure even as it speaks of negotiations.
The prospect of a US strike on Iran raises a wider strategic question: how will China and Russia react? Beijing and Moscow have repeatedly criticised unilateral military coercion and economic pressure, and they have cultivated closer ties with Tehran in recent years. While direct, overt military intervention by either power remains unlikely given the risks of escalation, both possess a range of lower‑visibility tools — diplomatic cover, arms transfers, intelligence sharing, cyber operations and economic countermeasures — that could complicate US plans and magnify the broader geopolitical fallout.
A military confrontation with Iran would therefore risk rapid regional escalation, threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupt energy markets and entangle other regional actors such as Israel and Gulf states. It would also test the limits of US power projection far from home and could accelerate strategic realignments that Washington has sought to prevent. For the international audience, the urgent takeaway is that the crisis is as much about great-power competition and alliance politics as it is about Tehran's nuclear and missile capabilities.