'Massive Armada Moving Towards Iran': Trump Announces Military Buildup Near Tehran Amid Tensions

Last Updated:January 23, 2026, 08:13 IST

Donald Trump said a US naval “armada” is moving toward Iran as Washington tightens pressure over Tehran’s nuclear activities and its crackdown on protests.

US President Donald Trump (Photo: AFP)

US President Donald Trump has announced that a US naval “armada" is moving toward Iran, while the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned Washington that the force had its “finger on the trigger" in the wake of mass protests.

While emphasising that he hoped force would not be required, Trump said the deployments were intended to keep pressure on Iran as events inside the country continue to draw international scrutiny.

“We have a massive armada moving in the direction of Iran. We’ll see what happens. We are watching them very closely," Trump told reporters.

At another point, he said, “We have an armada, heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it."

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.

One official said additional air-defence systems were also under consideration to guard against any potential Iranian strike on US bases in the region.

The movements, which began in the Asia-Pacific last week, expand the options available to Washington both to defend US forces and to respond to any further escalation.

Trump renewed warnings to Tehran against killing protesters or restarting its nuclear programme, saying the United States would act if Iran attempted to rebuild its nuclear capabilities after US strikes on key sites in June.

“If they try to do it again, we’ll hit them there too, just as easily," he said.

He also repeated his claim that US threats had led Iran to halt planned executions of protesters, saying authorities cancelled nearly 840 hangings.

“I said, ‘If you hang those people, you’re going to be hit harder than you’ve ever been hit. It’ll make what we did to your Iran nuclear (program) look like peanuts’," Trump was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Iran is required to report to the International Atomic Energy Agency on the status of sites struck by the United States and on nuclear material believed to include uranium enriched up to 60 per cent purity.

The IAEA has not verified Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium for at least seven months, Reuters noted.

The military posturing comes against the backdrop of unrest in Iran that began in late December and spread nationwide before appearing to ebb under an intense crackdown.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has said at least 5,002 people have been killed, while Iran’s government has acknowledged 3,117 deaths.

As the situation unfolded, exiled Iranian figure Reza Pahlavi sought to link the international pressure campaign to developments inside Iran.

In a message posted on X, Pahlavi praised demonstrations by Iranians abroad, saying they had given “strength and hope to our brave compatriots in our occupied homeland," and declared, “Your voice is the voice of the Iranian nation."

He urged the diaspora to intensify coordinated efforts as the Islamic Republic, “through ruthless killings and martial law, has raised the cost of people taking to the streets in Iran."

Pahlavi outlined six demands directed at the international community, including protecting Iranians by weakening the regime’s machinery of repression, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, imposing maximum economic pressure by blocking regime assets and targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet" of oil tankers, ensuring internet access through Starlink and other secure tools, expelling Iranian diplomats, securing the immediate release of all political prisoners, and preparing for a democratic transition.

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