ALTHOUGH it seemed that US President Donald Trump had reconsidered his plans to stage an attack on Iran last week, an American military build-up in the region points to the fact that the danger of a conflagration has yet to pass.

Mr Trump has said that an “armada” of American ships is headed to the Gulf “just in case”, while adding that he did not want to “see anything happen” vis-à-vis Iran. There are also reports that the US has deployed more fighter jets to its bases in some regional states, while the Turkish foreign minister has said that Israel is “looking for an opportunity” to strike Iran. Senior Iranian officials, on the other hand, have indicated they will hit back hard if attacked.

The Trumpian threats could well be mere sabre-rattling designed to bring Tehran to the table on America’s terms. However, the problem with such brinkmanship is that it can very quickly spiral out of control, and have devastating real-world consequences.

It is also a fact that the US, Israel and many of their Western allies keep shifting the goalposts where Iran is concerned. At times they claim to be acting out of sympathy for the Iranian people and the alleged mistreatment they suffer at the hands of their rulers. But this sympathy is nowhere to be seen when the US and Israel lob missiles at Iran, killing innocent civilians.

At other times they have issues with Iran’s nuclear programme, its stockpile of missiles, and its support for ‘proxies’ such as Hezbollah, Hamas etc. The ultimate aim of the US-led bloc, though, seems to be to punish and bring down a regime that has been a geopolitical adversary for nearly five decades.

Assuming that Mr Trump is not bluffing, and his plans to attack Iran are still on the table, those states, including Pakistan and Turkiye, that have joined his Board of Peace need to talk him out of this disastrous plan.

Mr Trump fashions himself a peacemaker, yet his conduct against Venezuela and Iran is that of a warmonger. There is also some media commentary that the US president backed off from an attack on Iran in mid-January not out of any humanitarian compulsions, but because the US and its allies were then not militarily and logistically prepared for aggression against Tehran.

The latest military build-up may be to rectify that situation.

Saner minds in the world community that have Mr Trump’s ear must insist that plans for a Zionist-neocon war against Iran must be jettisoned. If the US and other Western states are serious about resolving their differences with Iran, they must treat it with respect, and refrain from violating its sovereignty. Above all, no one can afford a disastrous new war.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026