The United States has stepped up military deployments to the Middle East in the run-up to a new round of indirect talks with Iran in Geneva, moving aircraft and defensive systems closer to potential theatres of operation. Aircraft based in the United Kingdom, including tankers and fighter jets, have been redeployed nearer to the region, while dozens of U.S. transport flights have moved equipment to bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Satellite imagery and officials briefed to international media show a concentrated presence: since January 25, a dozen F-15s have been visible at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, and additional U.S. combat flights have received clearance to enter Jordanian airspace. Washington has also extended rotations for units due to leave the region and continued shipments of air-defence systems, signalling preparations for both deterrence and contingency operations.
The deployments accompany naval pressure: a U.S. carrier strike group is already on station and U.S. outlets report a second is being dispatched. Behind the military moves sits an unmistakable message from the White House that “all options” remain on the table for President Trump — language intended to signal seriousness to Tehran but also to reassure regional partners.
Those military preparations are timed around indirect U.S.-Iran negotiations scheduled in Geneva on February 17, following initial contacts mediated by Oman in Muscat on February 6. Public statements from both sides suggest stubborn divergence on core issues, and Washington’s redeployments appear designed to strengthen bargaining leverage and to prepare for a possible collapse of diplomacy.
For regional capitals the flurry of activity presents both reassurance and risk. Hosts such as Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia gain closer U.S. security guarantees, but they also become logistical nodes in a potential confrontation, raising each state’s exposure to escalation and asymmetric retaliation by Tehran or its proxies.
For international markets and allied capitals, the U.S. posture increases near-term geopolitical risk. A larger U.S. military footprint can deter miscalculation, yet it also raises the odds of incidents that could disrupt shipping in the Gulf and send oil prices higher, complicating already fragile global economic conditions.
The deployments therefore operate at the intersection of coercive diplomacy and crisis management. They aim to tighten leverage over Iran while preserving options for military action, but they also narrow the political space for compromise by hardening positions on both sides and increasing incentives for reciprocal escalation by Tehran and its regional partners.