Upwards of 60 Norwegian and other allied troops have been relocated or entirely withdrawn from Iraq in the last week or so, as tensions continue to escalate in the region between Iran and the United States, the Joint Headquarters of the Norwegian Armed Forces told TV 2 Norway.

The U.S. Department of Defense has spent the week amassing a very large force in Europe and the Middle East with over 100 aircraft arriving just this week as tensions continue with Iran.
Currently in Europe/U.S. European Command:
36 - F-35s
24 - F-15s
28 - F-16s
12 - F-22s
18 - KC-46s
57+ - KC-135s
USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78):
48+ - F/A-18s
6+ - E/A-18s
4+ - E-2s
2 - P-8s
Currently in the Middle East/U.S. Central Command:
36 - F-15s
36 - F-16s
30 - F-35s
12 - A-10s
6 - E/A-18Gs
6 - E-3s
5 - E-11s
7 - KC-46s
20 - KC-135s
1 - U-2
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72):
12 - F-35s
36 - F/A-18s
6+ - E/A-18Gs
4+ - E-2s
4+ - P-8s
This situation is still evolving and aircraft are still moving into position.

Graphic: @ianellisjones
Data: @DefenceGeek @ArmchairAdml @EISNspotter

Fox News has rejected a report earlier today from The New York Times, which claimed that “hundreds” of U.S. troops had been evacuated from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, and bases in Bahrain, home to the U.S. 5th Fleet, amid rising tensions with Iran. A well-place U.S. official said that troops have NOT been evacuated from bases in Qatar or Bahrain.

President Donald J. Trump has yet to make a final decision about whether to strike Iranian regime sites or what to target in Iran, according to two people familiar with the planning, who say the attacks could come as early as this weekend, with any move likely to concentrate on Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to one person who spoke to Politico.

The Trump Administration is prepared to consider a proposal that allows Iran “token” nuclear enrichment if it leaves no possible path to a bomb, a senior U.S. official told Axios.

“President Trump will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home. If the Iranians want to prevent an attack they should give us an offer we can't refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games there won't be a lot of patience,” the senior U.S. official said, with some of Trump's advisers having counseled patience from the President.

But at the same time, President Trump has been presented by the Pentagon with several military options, including some that involve directly targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs,” an adviser to Trump said, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is seen as a potential successor. “What the president chooses no one knows. I don't think he knows.”

During an interview earlier this week with conservative commentator and influencer Tucker Carlson, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, citing Genesis 15, stated that Israel and the Jewish people have a “biblical right” to most of the Middle East, including the entirety of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and large parts of Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, saying, “It would be fine if they took it all.”

Chances of U.S. strikes against Iran have skyrocketed in the last few days on Polymarket, as the ongoing military buildup in Europe and the Middle East approaches levels last seen prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, with traders predicting that there is a 60% of strikes against Iran by the end of March.

U.S. Air Force heavy airlift activity over Europe and the Middle East continues this morning with at least 2 C-5M Super Galaxy and 8 C-17A Globemaster III aircraft active.

Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Araghchi, states the Iranian government has published a list of 3,117 "victims of recent terrorist operation", referring to the widespread protests that erupted across Iran in late December and early January of this year. This statement is following President Trump's statement yesterday placing the death toll closer to 32,000.

President Trump has announced that, after a "thorough, detailed and complete" review of yesterday's decision from the U.S. Supreme Court striking down his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to levy broad tariffs against virtually every country that he is raising the 10% worldwide tariff announced during his press conference yesterday to 15% effective immediately.