US Vice President J.D. Vance said that significant US forces are concentrated in the Middle East.
“The president has a lot of cards he can play. I won't say exactly what he's going to do, but we want to make sure that we have a lot of options. We have a lot of forces in the region“, he said, discussing US policy towards Iran.
According to the vice president, US President Donald Trump “just wants to make sure“ that the US has “the necessary resources to respond“ to Iran if it “does something really stupid“.
Previously, Trump said that the US is monitoring Iran and sending significant forces, including ships, to the region. The US president, however, noted that "he would rather nothing happened."
For his part, Trump said that a "huge fleet" was heading towards Iran, after repeatedly threatening Tehran with American intervention amid violent repression against the protests that have swept the Islamic Republic, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“We have a huge fleet heading in that direction,“ Trump told reporters aboard the presidential plane, returning to Washington from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“And we may not have to use it. "We have a lot of ships heading in that direction, just in case, we have a large fleet heading in that direction, and we'll see what happens," the US president added.
“We have a large force heading towards Iran. I'd rather not see anything happen, but we're watching them very closely“, Trump said, speaking of Iran.
According to US media reports, Washington is currently increasing its military presence in the Middle East, including by deploying the aircraft carrier “Abraham Lincoln“ and several escort ships.
A nuclear-powered aircraft carrier usually transports several thousand troops and dozens of fighter jets and is accompanied by naval destroyers. There has been no official confirmation from the Pentagon about the deployment of troops.
The demonstrations began in Tehran in late December over deteriorating economic conditions before escalating into bloody protests against the Islamic Republic's system.
Meanwhile, human rights activists from the US-based organization “Human Rights Activists“ (Human Rights Activists News Agency) said, quoted by the Associated Press, that the death toll from the crackdown in Iran has reached at least 5,002, they fear. The organization has been accurate in previous waves of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists in Iran to confirm deaths.
The Iranian government presented its first death toll on Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had been killed. Iran's theocracy has historically underreported or underreported deaths during unrest.
The AP has been unable to independently assess the death toll, in part because authorities have cut off internet access and blocked international calls in the country.