{"id":6918,"date":"2026-02-22T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/?p=6918"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:26:49","slug":"us-iran-talks-continue-despite-regional-military-build-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/inter\/2026\/02\/22\/us-iran-talks-continue-despite-regional-military-build-up\/","title":{"rendered":"US-Iran talks continue despite regional military build-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not a year after President Donald Trump launched airstrikes against Iran, the prospect of further conflict between the two powers is back in the headlines. Anti-government protests that escalated into deadly rioting in January have seen tens of thousands killed by the Iranian government, according to information that has escaped the regime\u2019s widespread internet blackout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As reports of the violence reached the White House, President Trump warned that further use of lethal force against the protesters could result in military intervention by the United States. However, no strikes have come, with mediation efforts by Turkey, Egypt and Qatar keeping the US and Iran at the negotiation table for now. Peace talks held in Oman in February saw diplomats discuss a proposed deal over key issues between the two countries. Chief among them is Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the proposed deal, Iran would cease its uranium enrichment for three years, after which it would be allowed to continue enrichment to a limited level. Iran would also have to surrender its current uranium stocks to a third country. Another key part of the proposal is that Iran must stop smuggling weapons to its non-state proxies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. This could also include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a non-state military branch which supports Iran\u2019s proxies and conducts grey-zone operations across the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

While negotiations continue, the US has been urging Israel to hold off on any planned preliminary strikes against Iran. President Trump has emphasised the US military buildup around Iran, not ruling out the use of force against Iran if negotiations fail. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Either we reach a deal, or we\u2019ll have to do something very tough. [The US military is] prepared to rapidly fulfil its missions with speed and violence if necessary<\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Significant military buildup has taken place in the Middle East as the US makes preparations for possible strikes. This has included moving fighter jets, support aircraft, and warships into military bases and important waterways across the region.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Direct military confrontation has already taken place, with an American fighter jet operating from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln shooting down an Iranian spy drone that was approaching the ship. Speedboats, suspected to be belonging to the IRGC, also harassed the US-owned oil tanker MV Stena Imperative in the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The tanker later received protection from a US warship. The IRGC also launched a military exercise close to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, which lies on the Strait.<\/span><\/p>\n

If any conflict between the US, Israel and Iran does lie ahead, it could possibly be on a larger scale than last year\u2019s 12-Day War. Trump has now ordered a second aircraft carrier to the region, and more US fighter jets could be quickly directed to the Middle East from bases in Europe. <\/span><\/p>\n

European countries have shown a willingness to help defend Gulf states in the event of attacks by Iran, such as the one targeting the US air base in Qatar last year. The UK has deployed fighter jets to Qatar but stressed this is a defensive measure. Unusual arrivals of stealth aircraft have also been reported at a UK military base in Cyprus. European leaders condemned the Iranian killings of protesters earlier this year, but it remains unclear whether they would be in support of US-Israeli strikes against Iran, or what extent of military action they would support. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not a year after President Donald Trump launched airstrikes against Iran, the prospect of further conflict between the two powers is back in the headlines. Anti-government protests that escalated into deadly rioting in January have seen tens of thousands killed by the Iranian government, according to information that has escaped the regime\u2019s widespread internet blackout.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":6951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","iawp_total_views":17,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1707,1179,1705,558,1053,1067,1058,576,1706],"wf_post_folders":[247],"class_list":{"0":"post-6918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-inter","8":"tag-foreign-policy","9":"tag-international","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-middle-east","13":"tag-military","14":"tag-president-trump","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-warships"},"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Ross Munro","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/author\/ross-munro\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Islamic_Revolutionary_Guard_Corps_Ground_Force_in_Kerman_tactical_exercise_048-300x209.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["International<\/a>"],"unlinked":["International<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["foreign policy<\/a>","international<\/a>","Iran<\/a>","Israel<\/a>","Middle East<\/a>","military<\/a>","president trump<\/a>","United States<\/a>","warships<\/a>"],"unlinked":["foreign policy<\/span>","international<\/span>","Iran<\/span>","Israel<\/span>","Middle East<\/span>","military<\/span>","president trump<\/span>","United States<\/span>","warships<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 months ago","modified":"Updated 6 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 22 February 2026","modified":"Updated on 26 February 2026"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 22 February 2026 20:30","modified":"Updated on 26 February 2026 11:26"},"featured_img_caption":"Photograph: Sarallah Ankouti, Wikimedia Commons","series_order":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6918"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6920,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6918\/revisions\/6920"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6918"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gaudie.co.uk\/wpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=6918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}