Trump draws ever closer to strikes on Iran

The Israel-Iran war is the most acute foreign-policy dilemma so far of Donald Trump’s turbulent second term. Should America join Israel’s attacks on the Islamic Republic? The stakes are sky-high, the consequences of military action totally unpredictable, and the president’s political movement split. Yet in a big shift the president is now signalling he may help Israel destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities. On June 17th he warned “our patience is wearing thin” and demanded “unconditional surrender”. He then gathered in the Situation Room with his national-security advisers. A military build-up is under way. Insiders say that within the coming hours America will be positioned to attack Iran. The aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is steaming to the Gulf with a battle group, doubling the number of carriers in the region. A “major flow” of US Air Force aerial tankers is now flying to the Middle East according to plane-tracking websites.