Another US attack on Iran appears imminent

"We are alright, things are okay…do not worry about me; I am fine. Yes, there is no Internet which is why I am recording this video message on my friend’s phone. She is going home and will send the message to reassure you. I have enough money and I am eating well. Inflation is high and there are protests in the evenings but inside the campus I am safe with other students. We will leave when we are asked to, so please do not worry about me."

The video message was reposted by the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi on a day when Iran warned countries in the region that it would attack US bases on its territory if the US attacks Iran. Reports from Israel suggested that the Israeli prime ministerial aircraft, Wing of Zion, has departed Nevatim air base and exited Israeli airspace. The precautionary move is often associated with heightened operational readiness or imminent military action.

The BBC reported that the US is reducing the number of personnel at its Al-Udeid air base in Qatar as a precautionary measure. Even as Saudi Arabia urged US President Donald Trump to avoid military escalation with Iran and warned of consequences for the region, and the Turkish foreign minister worked the phone, Iran, while confirming that there is no sign of an American build up in the region, voiced apprehension that the US attack would come from the sea, that the US would use submarines to launch missiles targeting Iran.

Trump’s posts on social media have also strengthened speculation about an imminent attack. "I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!," Trump said in a post on Tuesday, using the acronym for a US-based Iranian opposition slogan, 'Make Iran Great Again'. Since then, he has followed up with calls to Iranian protestors to take over institutions, virtually calling for an insurrection or a military coup.

Ironically, it is the US which is responsible for imposing crippling sanctions on Iran over the last four decades. It is Trump who walked away from the nuclear deal the US had signed with Tehran in 2015. Now that in 2026, people in Iran are protesting on the street against the poor economy, crumbling currency and high prices, the US hoped that supporting the protestors would be enough to foment unrest, create chaos and lead to a regime collapse. Because this has not happened, the last option of military intervention is about to be tried, agree most experts.

“Iran is the only Persian Gulf country that doesn't host an American military base. It sits in a region where Israel is the only nuclear power. The mistake Iran did -- as I have always argued -- was that it did not make the bomb. They thought they could leverage a nuclear threshold status for both security and economic relief. That was a blunder…,” posted Stanly Johny, foreign editor of The Hindu, on X on Wednesday.

Israelis bombed Iran in June, 2025. Trump happily joined in. Europe followed suit in the subsequent months by reimposing snapback sanctions. On 2 January, after meeting Netanyahu in Florida, Trump said he was “locked and loaded”.

The ultimate irony is that Western capitals and Western media, who put up with the Israeli genocide in Gaza for two years and subsequent Israeli occupation and settlements in Palestine without a murmur, have suddenly found their voice and sympathy for protesters in Iran.

As Iran braces to meet the threat, the US ‘Peace President’ who spoke out against any further regime-change exercise, and who has already declared himself the 'executive president' of Venezuela, gets ready to declare himself to be an Imam and Ayatollah.  

Meanwhile, Iranian activists say the country’s protest movement has received an unexpected boost from orbit. SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet system has reportedly dropped its subscription fees inside Iran, allowing more users to bypass one of the Islamic Republic’s most aggressive communications blackouts to date. Activists told the Associated Press on Wednesday that since Tuesday, anyone in Iran with a Starlink receiver has been able to access the service at no cost.