Authorities increased the tone of threats; impasse revolves around Iranian nuclear program
The United States and Iran have experienced an escalation of tension in recent days. The American president, (Republican Party), on Thursday (19.Feb.2026) that in 10 days you will know if you should “take a step forward” in relation to an attack against the Persian country.
The reason is the Iranian nuclear program. The West fears that Iran will enrich uranium to high levels for military purposes. Both countries negotiate to reach an agreement. On Tuesday (Feb 17), North American and Iranian representatives met, but without reaching concrete results.
On Wednesday (18.Feb.2026), the news website Axios that the US government is preparing for a possible joint military operation with Israel against Iran in the coming days.
On the same date, Tehran participated in military exercises with Russia. According to information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, “as Russian and Iranian naval teams synchronized their actions to ensure the safety of civilian shipping”.
US military strength in the Middle East has increased substantially in recent weeks. Weapons systems and ammunition were transported to the region on more than 150 military cargo flights. Since Wednesday (Feb 18), 50 additional fighters, including F-35, F-22 and F-16 models, have been deployed to bases in the region. The North American contingent includes 2 aircraft carriers, 12 warships, hundreds of combat aircraft and multiple air defense systems.
Iranian nuclear program
Iran is part of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons). According to the agreement, signatory countries without nuclear weapons cannot pursue their development.
Apprehension surrounding the Iranian program increased after the United States left, in 2018, during Trump’s first term, the international agreement signed in 2015 to limit uranium enrichment in exchange for the suspension of sanctions. Since then, Iran gradually its nuclear activities and began to operate more advanced centrifuges, according to from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
The agency reports that Iran enriches uranium to levels of up to 60% – close to the level needed for military use. International assessments indicate that the estimated time to obtain enough material for a nuclear weapon (“breakout time”) has fallen from around 1 year to weeks. Here’s the of the IAEA reports (PDF – 273 kB). Gunther Rudzit, professor of International Relations at ESPM, told Poder360 that “This makes any possibility of preparing military action very difficult”.
The scenario increases the concern of US allies in the Middle East, especially Israel, which has already said it may act to prevent Iran’s military nuclear capabilities. Israeli authorities repeatedly that they will not allow Iran to develop military nuclear capabilities in the region.
According to Rudzit, the fear is because “Iran never recognized Israel’s right to exist, and former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already argued that Israel should be wiped off the map”.
Escalation
The relationship between Iran and the US worsened after the US government bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, during the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel. On that occasion, US forces reached at least 2 sites linked to the Persian country’s nuclear program.
Since then, tensions have been heightened with exchanges of threats between authorities from both countries. Trump that Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, “should be very worried” faced with the possibility of US military actions.
The Ayatollah, in turn, that Trump will not be able to overthrow the Iranian regime and has made threats against US military vessels.
