The US military quickly increased its presence near Iran since the second round of nuclear talks between the US and Iran ended on February 17 without a breakthrough.
The US presence in the region is one of the largest forces in more than 2 decades, since before the Iraq war in 2003.
Experts monitoring the deployment of the US military said that this move has exceeded the military increase previously seen before the US attacks on Iran's nuclear program in June last year.
Dozens of reinforced aircraft were loaded onto the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. USS Gerald R. Ford was identified off the coast of Crete island of Greece on February 23. This is the 2nd aircraft carrier to be deployed to the Middle East and the appearance of this ship means that about 1/3 of the total number of US warships currently in operation are in the area.
The massive concentration means that the US military can carry out anything Mr. Trump decides, from a long, large-scale campaign to targeted, more limited attacks," said Dana Stroul, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, currently a research director at the Washington Institute, a consulting organization focused on US foreign policy in the Middle East.
If President Donald Trump's administration is planning a multi-week air strike campaign, more military equipment will be needed, said Mark Cancian, senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
US defense officials acknowledged the large influx of US forces into the Middle East but declined to comment on details for operational security reasons.
According to satellite images and flight tracking data, more than half of the newly deployed US aircraft have landed at bases in Europe.
By deploying aircraft in Eastern Europe, in addition to the range of most Iranian missiles, the US can strategically deploy materials or personnel without creating "lucrative targets" for Iran, according to Gregory Brew, senior analyst on Iran at Eurasia Group.
Most of the aircraft appearing in flight tracking data are cargo and refueling aircraft. Fighter aircraft often turn off position data, so it can only be tracked when it appears in satellite images.
Muwaffaq Salti Air Force Base in Jordan is an important destination for US aircraft to pour into the Middle East region. More than 60 fighter jets were seen in satellite photos taken last week.
From flight tracking data and additional assessments by independent aircraft tracker Steffan Watkins, the US has deployed more than 1/3 of the E-3G Sentry squadron to Europe and the Middle East in recent days.
Dozens of fighter jets have been photographed in recent days at runways in Europe.
Dozens of other aircraft, including those used for electronic warfare, are parked on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been off the coast of Oman since the beginning of February, and the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Both aircraft carriers are accompanied by guided-missile destroyers, on which there are dozens of Tomahawk missiles, the type of weapon that US forces used to attack Iran's nuclear targets in June last year.
