Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
28 January 2025 | 12:14 CAT
2-minute read

America bulks up forces in Gulf region

The presence of American forces in the Gulf region has significantly increased due to escalating tensions with Iran. On Monday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and other supporting warships entered the Middle East, joining other US assets sent there in recent weeks.

The carrier sailed into Gulf Waters with F/A-18 Super Hornets, F-35S and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. Current deployments in the Persian Gulf include the guided-missile destroyer U S S Mitscher (DDG-57).

The objective of reinforcing American forces in the region is to replace the regime in Iran, with the USA

The USA is taking advantage of the anti-government protests in Iran, seeing it as an opportunity to replace the current Iranian regime. Trump has repeatedly warned he would authorise military strikes if the regime used lethal forces against peaceful protesters and has explicitly encouraged Iranians to “keep protesting”, declaring that “help is on its way”. He also announced a 25% tariff, effective immediately in mid-January, on any country that does business with Iran.

“Many in the administration are quite hawkish,” Hafidh Ibrahim said during this week’s Media Lens. “Very pro-Israeli, very anti-Iranian [members] would support such intervention.”

Regional neighbours, including Gulf Arab states, have discouraged President Trump from launching military strikes against Iran. While these efforts were initially successful, media analyst Ibrahim pointed out that Trump is ramping up military presence in the area to deflect media attention from the domestic fallout of two fatal shootings of US citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis.

Media coverage

Media coverage has failed to mention that the 1953 CIA-backed coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh directly contributed to the rise and enduring power of the current Iranian regime. Additionally, reports omit the consequences of the coup that fundamentally reshaped the Middle East and set a precedent for US intervention that destabilised neighbouring Iraq.

Hafidh Ibrahim pointed out that media coverage has not highlighted Donald Trump’s well-known pattern of redirecting public and media attention away from himself — as he notably attempted to do by publicly floating the idea of purchasing Greenland, which many saw as a diversion from the emerging Jeffrey Epstein files and related controversies.

“The focus [in the media] has been on, and I think rightfully, the protests, the cracking down on the protests, [and the fact that] over 4 000 [are] dead and 20 000 injured,” he said.

A recent column by an independent journalist argued that Western media would cheer on a potential US attack on Iran, which Ibrahim says will shape the narrative that most people see.

How likely is it that the US will strike?

Despite US deployment of the huge “armada” to the Middle East, the likelihood of immediate strikes remains uncertain, Ibrahim said.

Iran has threatened a “comprehensive and regret-inducing response” to any American attack, with officials warning that a US strike would lead to an all-out war and a direct targeting of US and allied interests in the region.

Listen to the Media Lens with Hafidh Ibrahim on Sabaahul Muslim, presented by Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.