The Iranian regime is preparing for a potential U.S. airstrike amid negotiations over its nuclear program and its brutal crackdown on protesters.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against the regime if it continues killing protesters while refusing to give up its nuclear ambitions. The Pentagon sent a naval strike force to the Persian Gulf to underscore his harsh stance against Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime.
From The Jerusalem Post:
The Islamic Republic is likely preparing for the possibility of a US strike, experts told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday after reviewing high-resolution Sunday satellite images of the Isfahan nuclear complex.
Center and southern entrances to the nuclear facility have been covered with earth, and the northernmost tunnel entrance, which features additional passive defensive measures, has also been backfilled with soil, the images revealed.
“Backfilling the tunnel entrances would help dampen any potential airstrike and also make ground access in a special forces raid to seize or destroy any highly enriched uranium that may be housed inside, or the more difficult,” the Institute of Science and International Security said.
“Preparations like these were last observed in the days before Operation Midnight Hammer struck facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.”
“The late January and early February 2026 activity around the Isfahan nuclear complex is likely part of a larger push to create defensive layers to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile facilities in anticipation of a possible US strike,” Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps veteran, told the Post.
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Hackett also noted that “specialized IRGC Ground Forces units deployed around the country to provide additional security at strategic missile facilities critical to Iran’s defense-in-depth against a US attack.”
These maneuvers are part of the regime’s “Mosaic Doctrine” which involves securing “the physical infrastructure the regime needs to transport, store, and protect short- and medium-range ballistic missiles at sites throughout the country that would be used against regional targets in the event of a US attack against Iran,” Hackett told The Jerusalem Post.
BREAKING: A senior Iranian official warns that Tehran will regard any attack as a full-scale war, stating that its military is fully prepared for the worst-case scenarios. —WSJ.
— 𝔉🅰𝒏 Karoline Leavitt (@WHLeavitt) February 8, 2026
Do you back President Trump helping Iranians topple Khamenei’s regime?
A. Yes
B. No pic.twitter.com/xxa3dGdrCl
President Trump told Axios that he is considering sending a second U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East in case the latest nuclear talks fall through. “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” he said, also noting that the U.S. has “an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.”
However, the president said Iran “wants to make a deal very badly” and that the current negotiations are “very different” from past talks because Tehran is taking the threat of military intervention more seriously.
Trump further stated that any agreement must cover Iran’s nuclear program, but he also seeks to limit the regime’s building of ballistic missiles. “We can make a great deal with Iran,” he said.
But Tehran insists that it is only interested in discussing the nuclear program and will refuse to relinquish its right to enrich uranium.
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