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The United States warned Iran that it would take "decisive action" to defend its personnel and interests in the Middle East, a statement that coincided with reports of the deployment of stealthy B-2 bombers and a second aircraft carrier to the region.
Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said, "Should Iran or its proxies threaten American personnel and interests in the region, the United States will take decisive action to defend our people."
As many as six US B-2 stealth bombers have been deployed to a US-British military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, US officials said on Tuesday.
The deployment of the B-2s, which possess stealth technology and the capability to carry the heaviest US conventional and nuclear bombs, places them in an ideal strategic position to operate in the Middle East, according to experts cited by Reuters.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged a tougher line on Washington's Mideast adversary Tehran and outlined plans for new legislation targeting the Islamic Republic as tensions have soared in recent days.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday urged a tougher line on Washington's Mideast adversary Tehran and outlined plans for new legislation targeting the Islamic Republic as tensions have soared in recent days.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran would face bombing if it did not agree to a new nuclear deal, prompting a senior advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to moot the pursuit of a bomb in the event of an attack.
The Republican Study Committee (RSC) in a press conference advocated a series of new acts it said would increase pressure on Tehran in line with Trump's policy of stepping up sanctions in a bid to force the Islamic Republic to the negotiating table.
It named ten proposed pieces of legislation including the Free Iraq from Iran Act, Stop Corrupt Iranian Oligarchs and Entities Act and the No Sanctions Relief for Terrorists Act.
"This package is the strongest Iran sanctions and security package delivered to date.
The Iranian people are not the target," Congressman August Pfluger of Texas told reporters.
"It's the leadership that wants to gain a nuclear weapon and wants to continue that pariah state of sowing chaos and terrorism throughout the world," he added. "If I were them, I would make the choice of announcing loud and clear that they will not attain a nuclear weapon."
The US director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said last week that Washington assessed Iran is not building nuclear weapons but that a taboo in Iran on discussing nuclear weapons in public was eroding.
The RSC is a conservative caucus for house Republicans founded in 1973.
"Right now, Tehran has a very clear offering, and that's to enter into negotiations in good faith with President Trump, who has laid out not only a roadmap for the Persian Farsi people to be successful, but for Iran to have a future," Representative Zach Nunn of Iowa said.
"It simply means stop funding terrorism, stop avoiding the sanctions regime, come to the table, de-escalate and end a nuclear regime that only ends in death for potentially hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East."
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that if a deal was not reached, "there will be bombing — and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before." Khamenei vowed retaliation to any attack.
An attack, a veteran nuclear negotiator and advisor to the Supreme Leader said on Monday, would push Iran toward acquiring nuclear weapons to ensure its defense,
Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and Khamenei has issued a religious injunction against them, but the United Nations nuclear watchdog says Iran has enriched more uranium than any state lacking a bomb.
"Not only are they pursuing a nuclear weapon to vaporize Israel and ultimately the United States, they're developing ICBMs, which can only be for one purpose, and that is to deliver a nuclear attack against the American people," Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina said.
"And there must be verification, not the charades we've had with the previous administrations."
Trump withdrew from a 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran in his first term after bashing it as too lenient. Khamenei said talks were pointless if a new deal could easily be broken.
The US military has deployed long range bombers at a strategic Indian Ocean airbase, a spokesperson told Iran International last week, a move which presaged major bombing campaigns against Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.
More than 700 people have been killed in road accidents across Iran since the start of the new year on March 20, according to the country’s traffic police.
“From March 14 to March 31, we recorded 704 deaths from 582 fatal crashes,” said Brigadier General Teymour Hosseini, head of Iran’s Traffic Police.
“In the same period, more than 16,000 people were injured, and we registered over 84,000 accidents overall.”
Traffic officials say 400 million vehicle movements were logged during the holiday period. Provinces with the highest death tolls included Kerman with 65 fatalities, followed by Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, and Sistan and Baluchestan.
Police attribute nearly half of fatal crashes to drivers failing to keep their eyes on the road. Sudden lane changes and loss of vehicle control each accounted for another 15 percent of deadly incidents.
Every year, the Nowruz holidays (Mid-March to early April) witness hundreds of deaths on Iran's roads as the country's population embarks on journeys for the festive season.
A combination of factors, including poor road conditions, inadequate vehicle domestically made vehicle quality and maintenance, as well as dangerous driving practices, contribute to making the period the most fatal of the year for Iranian citizens.
While poor road conditions and poor vehicle quality are significant factors contributing to road accidents, Iranian authorities often attribute the majority of incidents to human factors, placing blame on drivers.
However, concerns persist regarding the need for comprehensive measures to address the underlying causes of road accidents and enhance road safety across the country.
The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on six firms and two individuals in Iran, China and the United Arab Emirates accused of supplying drone components to Iran’s Quds Aviation Industries and its military partners.
The move marks part of a stepped-up enforcement effort under a recent presidential directive ordering a “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions on Tehran.
“Iran’s proliferation of UAVs and missiles—both to its terrorist proxies in the region and to Russia for its use against Ukraine—continues to threaten civilians, US personnel, and our allies and partners,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
“Treasury will continue to disrupt Iran’s military-industrial complex and its proliferation of UAVs, missiles, and conventional weapons that often end up in the hands of destabilizing actors, including terrorist proxies,” he added in a statement.
“The United States will use all available means to expose and disrupt Iran’s growing UAV and missile development programs and weapons proliferation,” the State Department said in support of the sanctions. “We will continue to act against the complex schemes Iran uses in third countries to conceal its acquisition and its transfers of sensitive technology.”
"We will continue to act against the complex schemes Iran uses in third countries to conceal its acquisition and its transfers of sensitive technology. Iran uses this technology and the proceeds from arms sales to bolster its military industrial base to build missiles and UAVs, which are used against fellow countries, as well as exported to Russia, terrorist proxy groups around the Middle East, and to other actors of concern," added Tammy Bruce, the State Department Spokesperson.
The designated entities include Rah Roshd, an Iran-based supplier linked to the Mohajer-6 drone, and Chinese manufacturer Zibo Shenbo, which allegedly shipped tens of thousands of motors to Iran. UAE firms, including Infracom and Diamond Castle, were named as intermediaries.
The sanctions freeze US-based assets and bar transactions with US persons. Concurrently, the Justice Department charged two Iranians with conspiring to smuggle US technology to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian transnational paramilitary group the US classifies as a foreign terrorist organization.
Western powers accuse Iran of providing drones and missiles to Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Iranian drones have repeatedly been deployed in attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and other civilian targets. The Shahed 136 drone is typically launched alongside cruise and ballistic missile attacks to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.
