U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026, that a “massive” American military force is heading toward Iran, saying Washington is “closely monitoring” Tehran.

Trump said he had threatened Iran with a U.S. strike if it carried out executions, noting that Iran subsequently canceled them.

“We have a lot of ships on the way to the region, and we also have an aircraft carrier heading there,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll see what happens. I don’t want anything to happen, but we’ll have to see what happens.”

Meanwhile, two U.S. officials said a carrier strike group and additional military equipment are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days, despite Trump expressing hope to avoid any new military action against Iran.