The United States is now preparing the largest military air force presence in the Middle East in over two decades. While VG and other mainstream media paint a picture of a belligerent Donald Trump, they adroitly omit the President’s stated objective: to halt a regime that slaughters its own people and finances terror against Israel.

As the weekend approaches, the situation in the Middle East is tense. American F-35, F-22 and F-18 fighter aircraft have arrived in the region, and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, U.S.S. “Gerald R. Ford”, is heading eastwards to join U.S.S. “Abraham Lincoln”.

This is the largest American force build-up since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In VG’s coverage of the matter, this is presented as a frightening escalation driven by an unpredictable American President. What is, however, absent from the analysis is the context and rationale behind Trump’s demonstration of power.

Forgets the victims of the clerical regime

In its article, VG asks rhetorically: “Will Donald Trump make good on the war threats against Iran?”.

What the newspaper fails to emphasise in its problematisation is that Trump has repeatedly made it clear that his hard line concerns helping the Iranian people. Earlier this year, tens of thousands of Iranians took to the streets chanting “death to the dictator” in an attempt to overthrow the clerical regime (prestestyret). The response from the regime was, as VG itself barely mentions, brutal and bloody violence in which thousands were killed.

Trump’s escalation is a direct response to these atrocities. He has made it clear that the United States cannot sit idly by and watch a dictatorship massacre its own citizens who are demonstrating for freedom.

The struggle against terror

Another central point that is under-communicated is Iran’s role as the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. While VG focuses on the fact that the United States attacked Iranian nuclear facilities during the war between Israel and Iran last summer, Iran’s aggressive conduct in the region is reduced to the assertion that they have “through armed groups in the region for decades exerted significant pressure against Israel”.

“Significant pressure” is a polite circumlocution for the fact that Iran actively finances and arms organisations whose declared objective is to annihilate the Jewish state. Trump’s military muscle is being displayed precisely in order to compel Iran to dismantle both its nuclear programme and its missile production – weapons intended solely for terror and coercion.

Middle East researcher Dag Tuastad states to VG that a potential American attack could lead to regime change and the end of the clerical regime (prestestyret). For the Iranian people and for security in the Middle East, such an outcome would be a liberation, not a tragedy.

The ultimatum

Negotiations between the United States and Iran are still ongoing in Geneva. The White House has stated that there is progress, but that the distance remains considerable. Trump’s message is, however, crystal clear: “Time is running out. This is truly decisive!”.

While VG and former diplomats express concern about Trump’s military threats, they forget that the only language the regime in Tehran understands is power. By positioning the world’s most advanced war machine directly outside the ayatollahs’ living-room door, Trump is attempting to force a peaceful solution through deterrence – a solution that will benefit both the Iranian people and Israel’s right to exist.