Protests, Threats, carrier strike group: How US–Iran tensions escalated again

The conflict between United States and Iran, going on since decades, has reignited amid the recent turmoil in the Middle East country after a gap of some months suggesting both sides taking a step back from the clashes.  

Behind US President Donald Trump’s various threats to Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s Shiite Islamic regime is the ongoing protests in Iran in which more than 500 people have been killed, buildings and public property burned and damaged. The protests leading to violence shook Iran to its core.    

Since Trump threatened to intervene in the current situation in Iran, soon after his Venezuela operation in which the US forces captured president Nicolas Maduro, he has been warning of using brutal force to which Iran has given just one but strong reaction: Any kind of force of whatever scale will be dealt with a full-scale war. 

The recent escalation between the US and Iran has been built on the rising problems in Iran stemming from economic collapse, cut in subsidies, rising prices and others. US’ plans to seriously consider for a military strike against Iran also made matters worse. However, a US carrier strike group, meaning a central carrier with escort warships (missiles, destroyers) and fighter jets surrounding it, is one of the most powerful mobile military forces the US can deploy, deployed near Iran and both at loggerheads, threatening each other, raises a severe concern of a critical war-like situation in the near future.  

Timeline of US-Iran tensions: 

• Iran’s turmoil started in late last December after people boiled over rising inflation, declining currency and higher cost of living erupted in protests.  
• These “peaceful” demonstrations soon turned into massive anti-government protests where people were sloganeering against Khamenei demanding political change. 
• Authorities reacted by imposing an almost complete internet and phone blackout on 8 January to curb these rising protests. 
• Khamenei publicly accused the US of instigating people  
• Thousands have been killed, among whom a big number of people executed, and arrested.  

Why did tensions rise?  

Amid reports of rising number of demonstrators being killed by the security forces, US President Donald Trump gave his first warning that Washington would “come to their rescue.” Trump also called Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people.” 

Trump’s-Khamenei’s war of threats 

Since January this year, President Donald Trump and Khamenei have been trading barbs against each other. The former said on earlier this week that US will wipe out Iran if the country assassinates him. “I have very firm instructions — anything happens, they’re going to wipe them off the face of this earth,” Trump said in an interview on NewsNation’s “Katie Pavlich Tonight”. 

Days after the US president claimed that Iran needs “new leadership” and condemned Khamenei’s 40-years long rule resulting in repression and violence against protesters, Iran this week warned Trump not to take any action against the country’s Supreme Leader.  

Delivering a speech in Davos, Switzerland, Trump reiterated his earlier claims to “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear capacity during US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. He said that Tehran “does want to talk, and will talk”.  

Amid these threats, a senior Iranian official presented the country’s view regarding the current US stance on it and said that the Islamic regime views the US military deployment as a direct threat and would use “everything at its disposal” to retaliate if attacked.