Donald Trump warned Iran on Tuesday that the United States' patience is “wearing thin,” then posted: “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” on its Truth Social platform.

As uncertainty continues over the role the US may play in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, at least 30 US military aircraft have been flown from bases in the United States to Europe in the past three days, according to flight tracking data reviewed.

The aircraft in question are US military tankers used to refuel fighter jets and bombers.

According to Flightradar24, at least seven of them, all KC-135s, stopped at US air bases in Spain, Scotland, and England.

These flights come as Israel and Iran continue to exchange attacks, after Israel launched an operation on Friday that it claimed was aimed at destroying Tehran’s nuclear program.

It is unclear whether the US moves are directly related to the conflict, but one expert told that the tanker flights were “highly unusual.”

Justin Bronk, a senior analyst at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the deployments were “highly indicative” that the US was putting contingency plans in place to “support intensive combat operations” in the region in the coming weeks.

The seven planes tracked continued their journey and, according to flight-tracking data, could be seen flying east of Sicily on Tuesday afternoon.

Six of them had no stated destination; one landed on the Greek island of Crete.

However, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, former head of the Irish Defence Forces,He said the movements could be part of a broader policy of “strategic ambiguity” that may be trying to influence Iran to make concessions in negotiations over its nuclear program. Israel initially launched an attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure on Friday, just a day after a deadline imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump for Iran to reach an agreement on suspending its nuclear program. The aircraft movements come amid reports that the U.S. has also relocated an aircraft carrier, the USS Nimitz, from the South China Sea to the Middle East. The Reuters news agency reported that a planned event involving the ship in Vietnam was canceled after what the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi called an “emerging operational need.” MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking website, showed the USS Nimitz’s last location was in the Strait of Malacca, heading toward Singapore, in early Tuesday morning.

The Nimitz is carrying a contingent of fighter jets and is escorted by several guided-missile destroyers.

Target: Iranian nuclear facilities

U.S. The U.S. has also moved F-16, F-22, and F-35 fighter jets to bases in the Middle East, three defense officials told Reuters on Tuesday.

The tankers moved to Europe in recent days can be used to refuel those planes.

Earlier on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance suggested the U.S. could intervene to support Israel’s campaign, writing on social media that Trump “may decide he needs to take further steps” to end Iran’s nuclear program.

Tehran is believed to operate two major underground uranium enrichment facilities.

Natanz has already been attacked by Israel, and Fordo is buried deep within a mountain complex near the city of Qom.

To penetrate the facilities, the U.S. would likely have to use GBU-57A/B massive ordnance penetrators (MOPs), as two senior Western military officials told .

MOPs are massive 13,600kg bombs, also known as “bunker busters”.

The bomb is the only conventional weapon of its type believed to be capable of piercing up to 60 metres (200 feet) of concrete.

Only the B-2 stealth bomber can carry these munitions.

The US recently deployed a squadron of B-2 bombers to its base on Diego Garcia island.

While the island is around 3,800 kilometres (2,300 miles) off the southern coast of Iran,Its location on Diego Garcia would put the bombers within striking range of Tehran.

“From Diego Garcia, a sustained operation could be maintained much more efficiently,” Air Marshal Greg Bagwell, a former deputy chief of operations for the British air force, told.

“They could be operating 24 hours a day,” he added.

Early satellite imagery showed B-2 bombers stationed on Diego Garcia in late March, but more recent images of the island no longer show the bombers present.

Mellet said he expected to see the bombers on the island ahead of any operation against Iran and called their absence “a missing piece of the puzzle.”

Bagwell agreed.

However, he noted that B-2s are known to operate for 24 hours at a time and could take off from the US mainland if the White House decided to launch an attack.

“They’ve taken away any means for Iran to defend itself, which obviously leaves any military, or even nuclear, objective pretty much at the mercy of whatever Israel wants to do to it,” Bagwell said.

With additional reporting by Merlyn Thomas.

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