Tension rose a notch between the United States and Tehran this Friday. From the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, Donald Trump raised the possibility of a reversal of power in Iran, against a backdrop of fragile negotiations concerning the nuclear program and the ballistic capabilities of the Islamic Republic.
Asked about a possible “regime change,” the American president replied: “It seems like it would be the best thing that could happen.” He also denounced the attitude of Iranian leaders since the Islamic Revolution: “For 47 years, they have been talking and talking and talking. And during that time we lost a lot of lives,” he said as he left the base.
Second aircraft carrier deployed in the Persian Gulf
At the same time, Donald Trump confirmed the sending “very soon” of a second American aircraft carrier to the region, after the deployment in January of the USS Abraham Lincoln. The Gerald Ford is due to return to the Persian Gulf at a date that is still uncertain. The potential targets of possible intervention are not specified, but the president on Thursday threatened Iran with “traumatic” consequences, recalling the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites during a twelve-day war launched by Israel in June.
Indirect discussions between the two countries resumed on February 6 in Oman, with no guarantee of success. Washington, encouraged by Israel, wants to include ballistic missiles and Iranian support for regional armed groups like Hamas or Hezbollah in a possible agreement. Tehran says it only wants to negotiate on nuclear power and insists on maintaining its uranium enrichment capabilities.
A “possible” agreement according to the IAEA
On the diplomatic level, the Secretary General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, judged on Friday that an agreement on inspections was “possible”, but “terribly difficult”. Iran refused in November for the IAEA to inspect several sites bombed in June.
Our file on Iran
At the same time, internal protests remain strong. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, called for protests in Munich, Toronto and Los Angeles on Saturday and urged Iranians to join in from inside the country. According to Human Rights Activists News Agency, at least 7,008 people were killed during protests in early January and more than 53,000 arrested. The Iranian authorities, for their part, claim more than 3,000 deaths, attributed to “terrorists” supported, according to them, by Israel and the United States.
date: 2026-02-14 00:22:00