With the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group on station, U.S. Central Command can call on air and missile defense assets ringing Iran from the destroyers in the Eastern Mediterranean to the North Arabian Gulf.  President Donald J. Trump wants action on Iran’s nuclear inspections.  Highlights from the conversation with FOX News Anchor Molly Line, below and full clip here.

Molly Line: It was quite a scene, a huge amount of assets being moved to the Middle East. The Ayatollah is talking about a regional war unfolding, potentially, if President Trump strikes, but the President says that they are talking.  What do you make of this?

Rebecca Grant: Iran is playing games about allowing nuclear inspections.  But at this point, Iran is taking a really big risk, because Trump’s armada ensures that Iran basically has no military options left.  Make no mistake, President Trump is ready for action.  If they go, we know there’s a pre-briefed target set; it’s probably ballistic missile sites, maybe leadership targets, but right now, it is the pressure on Iran to agree to negotiations, which is what President Trump says he wants to do.

Molly Line: We know the USS Abraham Lincoln is there, but there’s also this Wall Street Journal headline from today saying that before any strike on Iran, the U.S. needs to bolster air defenses in the Middle East.  The Pentagon is taking steps to protect Israel, Arab allies and American forces if Iran retaliates.  How big of a concern is a potential retaliation if the President decides to strike?

Rebecca Grant: The air defenses are a top concern, and you can see on this map that those assets are already in place.  This is a massive amount of sea-based air and missile defense; there’s also land-based missile defense.   You’re looking at destroyers in the eastern Med ready to do a nose-on shot against Iranian missiles or drones; destroyers down in the Persian Gulf, more destroyers, and the aircraft USS Abraham Lincoln over there in the “NAG,” the North Arabian Gulf.  Incredible.  This is like a Golden Dome of missile defense over our U.S. forces in the Middle East.  Also, there are strike options if needed.  The F-35s, the stealth fighters, on the carrier are great at taking out cruise missiles.  There is more land-based U.S. air power throughout that region as well, so President Trump has done the number one thing, and that is to make sure that about 40,000 U.S. forces there are very well protected.  This is why Iran really has no military options.

Molly Line: Yeah, thank you for the answer to that question. I also want to get your take on something that General Jack Keane said. This was his analysis earlier today. Take a listen.

Gen. Jack Keane (sound on tape):  There is a historic opportunity here to set the conditions through a military strike that puts the regime on the pathway to collapse.   The Israelis recognize this, and this is why there’s so much delay taking place, to bring in robust resources to do something that’s decisive.  It’s not going to be like the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, or Panama, where there are ground troops right here in front of us.

Molly Line: Your thoughts on what the general had to say?

Rebecca Grant: The General is very wise.  Two things: one, we know that the Israeli Defense Force chief was here, no doubt sharing some up-to-date intelligence, and what General Keane is saying is that one thing that will really hurt Iran is to continue to take out more of that ballistic missile, space launch capability.  They’ve still got a lot of those sites, and so if it comes to it, that type of strike would indeed really weaken the regime, the Ayatollah, the IRGC, and that whole bad crowd.

Molly Line: I just want to get your thoughts. Where are you leaning right now? Do you think it’s more likely that diplomacy will win out, or that it could ultimately be more likely that there’s a strike?

Rebecca Grant: The president of Egypt, Qatar’s Prime Minister, the Turks: they’re all calling Iran and saying look, you better negotiate.  Iran always says they’ll talk, but what we’ve seen in the past, Operation Midnight Hammer showed us, is that it often takes military action where Iran is concerned.

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