U.S. Launches Major Aerial Readiness Exercise in Middle East as Iran Tensions Escalate

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – The United States on Tuesday announced the launch of a large, multi-day aerial military readiness exercise across the Middle East, underscoring heightened alertness as tensions continue to rise with Iran amid a deadly regime crackdown on nationwide protests.

U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT), the air component of United States Central Command, said the drill is designed to demonstrate the military’s ability to rapidly deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower throughout the CENTCOM area of responsibility. The exercise is being conducted by the U.S. Ninth Air Force and will span multiple contingency locations across the region.

The announcement came one day after CENTCOM confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and accompanying warships had arrived in the Middle East, significantly boosting U.S. offensive and defensive capabilities amid mounting regional volatility.

According to AFCENT, U.S. forces participating in the drill will deploy small, mobile teams to austere locations, validating rapid setup, launch, recovery, and sustainment procedures with minimal logistical footprints. The exercise emphasizes agile combat employment, a strategy aimed at dispersing aircraft to reduce vulnerability to missile and drone attacks while maintaining operational tempo.

“All activities will be conducted with host-nation approval and in close coordination with civil and military aviation authorities, emphasizing safety, precision, and respect for sovereignty,” AFCENT said in a statement. The exercise will also test integrated, multinational command-and-control operations over a wide geographic area.

The military activity unfolds amid intense speculation over whether Donald Trump may order strikes against Iran following what U.S. officials and human-rights groups describe as one of the bloodiest crackdowns in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution. Trump has warned Tehran over its treatment of protesters while also signaling openness to negotiations, saying previously that “help is on the way” if mass killings continued.

Iran has responded with threats of retaliation, vowing to target Israel and U.S. forces in the region should Washington initiate military action.

The unrest in Iran erupted after the collapse of the national currency, the rial, which has devastated personal savings and fueled widespread anger. As of Tuesday, the rial was trading at roughly 1,077,500 to the U.S. dollar, near historic lows. Protests have swept the country for more than two weeks despite a sweeping security response.

Opposition-linked outlet Iran International reported that more than 36,500 people may have been killed by security forces during the initial days of the crackdown, though the figure could not be independently verified. Meanwhile, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 6,126 people have been confirmed killed, with thousands more feared dead and over 41,800 arrests reported. Iranian authorities have issued a far lower official death toll, a claim critics say follows a long pattern of underreporting casualties during periods of unrest.

CENTCOM said the arrival of the Abraham Lincoln strike group and the ongoing air exercise are intended to promote regional security and stability while deterring aggression. U.S. officials have also highlighted recent joint drills with regional partners, including Bahrain, focused on countering missile and drone threats—capabilities heavily associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

U.S. Air Forces Central will be conducting a multi-day readiness exercise to demonstrate the ability to deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Read more: https://t.co/F4rRENnVGD pic.twitter.com/ny80gdjuQU

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 27, 2026

Lt. Gen. Derek France, AFCENT commander and Combined Forces Air Component commander for CENTCOM, said the exercise demonstrates that U.S. forces can “disperse, operate, and generate combat sorties under demanding conditions—safely, precisely, and alongside our partners.”

“This is about upholding our commitment to maintaining combat-ready airmen and ensuring airpower is available when and where it’s needed,” France said.

As Washington weighs its next steps, the scale and timing of the exercise appear calibrated to send a clear message to Tehran: the United States and its allies are prepared to respond swiftly to any escalation while maintaining a robust and flexible military posture across the Middle East.

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