Half of America’s deployable air power sits within striking distance of Iran, and yet Washington is negotiating. Gaza is promised a gleaming future, and yet Hamas still refuses to disarm.Is this strategic patience, or proof that the US President has been dangerously misled, indulging adversaries who are buying time?

By placing comprehensive proposals on the table, publicly, the administration creates a test for Iran

By placing comprehensive proposals on the table, publicly, the administration creates a test for Iran

Two US carrier strike groups sit in the eastern Mediterranean and the Gulf. Land-based fighters rotate through Jordan and the Gulf states. Long-range bombers have been repositioned. Analysts calculate that somewhere between 40 and 50 per cent of America’s deployable air power is now concentrated in the Middle East, a level comparable to the build-up before the 1991 Gulf war and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This feels similar in scale, even if ground forces are absent

At sea, the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Abraham Lincoln anchor two full strike groups. This is a posture designed for rapid transition from deterrence to strike. And yet Washington is negotiating with the Islamic Republic regime even as it has slaughtered tens of thousands of its citizens and rushes to create more ballistic missiles and resume its nuclear activity.

In Oman, sources indicate that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, is expected in Muscat to deliver Tehran’s response to an American proposal. Back-channel diplomacy continues. Yesterday, India advised its citizens to leave Iran immediately. Videos circulated from Tehran showing explosions near power infrastructure. Iranian opposition outlets report that a cellular network was hacked and mass messages were sent out declaring: ‘To the Iranian people........

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