Trump delays Iran strike as US tells UN ‘all options on the table’ amid rising tensions

The US has postponed launching a military strike against Iran amid rising tensions in the Middle East. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group are moving west from the Indo- Pacific sea. It will reach the Middle East within a week. The war with Iran seems inevitable, even though Russia offered mediation between Israel and Iran. According to a report by the NYT, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu urged a delay to allow Israel more time to prepare against possible Iranian retaliation.

At an emergency UN Security Council meeting on January 15, 2026, the US envoy to the UN, Mike Waltz, insisted that “all options are on the table”. Trump’s envoy has termed the President a “man of his actions” willing to respond to ongoing violence. Iran’s delegations at the UNSC strongly rejected claims, calling accusations of wrongdoing false and intentions to intervene based on “lies and misinformation. Iranian state media and government officials have shared videos of what they claim is evidence of rioters using Israeli and US weapons to kill civilians and damage properties.

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The US have previously warned Iranian leadership that further killings will result in “grave consequences”. Simultaneously, the US military is evacuating personnel from its bases in the Middle East. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the pressure from the US President led to the postponement of 800 planned executions of protestors. This follows Trump's recent warnings when he said help is on the way. Trump had previously warned on Tuesday that Washington would take very strong actions if Iran carried out any executions.

"There is no hanging, today or tomorrow ... I can tell you, I'm confident about that. There is no plan for hanging at all," said Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi

A possible escalation in the Middle East will see the US engage in conflict on all fronts. It has already made clear its ambition to acquire Greenland, which has led to disagreement within NATO. Germany, Norway and the UK have together deployed 16 troops to protect Greenland against any possible invasion from the US. Israel’s strategic interests heavily shape US-Iran policy, and at the same time, pro-Israel lobbying constrains Washington’s options. A war with Iran would primarily serve Israeli regional objectives, will long term exhaust US capability in the Middle East.