US fighter jets tracked as heading towards the Middle East could be laying the groundwork for a major bombing campaign.

U.S. tanker was earlier harassed by Iranian small boats, Central Command said.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran must make a "meaningful deal" in negotiations with Washington in the next 10 days or else "bad things happen", as he deployed warships, fighter jets and other military hardware to the region.

There are talks Donald Trump is getting ‘fed up’ and that there is now a ’90 percent chance of war’ with Iran. Experts have said that this flow of warplanes heading to the Gulf is most likely in a bid to clear the way for heavy bombers to strike the country.

The US has deployed 13 warships and a large fleet of aircraft to the Middle East, with a second aircraft carrier also en route, setting the stage for a potential military confrontation with Iran

The American military buildup comes amid indirect negotiations with Iranian officials, in which "progress was made" on Tuesday in Geneva, a US official told The Post. The United States military has

President Trump is sending the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest warship, to the Middle East, along with a huge fleet of aerial refueling tankers and F-22 and F-35 strike fighters, according to reports.

BBC Verify has seen US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln near Iran ahead of talks between the two countries

This deployment of fighter jets comes days after US President Donald Trump sent a second aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, to the Middle East.

The US military has assembled the greatest amount of air power in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by sending significant numbers of cutting-edge F-35 and F-22 jet fighters and support aircraft to the region.