Trump says US still watching Iran, fleet sailing to region; Military intervention in Iran 'not the preferred option' says France

by AFP Staff Writers
Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 22, 2026

President Donald Trump said Thursday a US naval "armada" was heading toward the Gulf, maintaining pressure on Iran although he has recently downplayed the prospect of imminent military action.

Last week, Trump pulled back from a threat to strike Iran over its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests after the White House said Tehran had halted planned executions of demonstrators.

But the Republican president on Thursday confirmed continuing military preparations. US media have reported in the past week that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was ordered from maneuvers in the South China Sea to the Middle East.

"We're watching Iran," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case... We have a big force going toward Iran," the president said.

"I'd rather not see anything happen but we're watching them very closely."

He described the force as "an armada" and "massive fleet," but added, "maybe we won't have to use it."

Trump reiterated that his threat to use force against Tehran had stopped 837 hangings of protesters. He also confirmed he was open to talking with Iran.

Iranian authorities on Wednesday gave their first official toll from the protests -- which appear to have ebbed in recent days -- saying 3,117 people were killed. Rights groups say the actual number of dead could be far higher.

Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June aimed at degrading the Islamic republic's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Military intervention in Iran 'not the preferred option': French minister
Paris, France (AFP) Jan 25, 2026 - Military intervention in Iran, where authorities launched a deadly crackdown on protesters that killed thousands, is not France's preferred option, its armed forces minister said Sunday.

"I think we must support the Iranian people in any way we can," Alice Rufo said on the political broadcast "Le Grand Jury".

But "a military intervention is not the preferred option" for France, she said, adding it was "up to the Iranian people to rid themselves of this regime".

Rufo lamented how hard it was to "document the mass crimes the Iranian regime has carried out against its population" due to a widespread internet shutdown.

Iran's more than 90 million people have been largely cut off from the internet since authorities imposed a blackout on January 8 amid major protests sweeping the country.

Under the cover of the blackout, they launched a violent crackdown on protesters, with rights groups documenting several thousand dead and the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights saying the final figure could top 25,000.

The Iranian government has put the toll at 3,117, including 2,427 it has labelled "martyrs", a term used to distinguish members of the security forces and innocent bystanders from those described by authorities as "rioters" it claims were incited by the US and Israel.

"The Iranian people reject their regime. The fate of the Iranian people belongs to Iranians, and it is not for us to choose their leaders," said Rufo.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch military strikes on Iran in response to the crackdown, but has since appeared to walk back those threats after he said Tehran suspended planned executions.

Protests sparked by economic grievances erupted in Tehran on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.