Strong War Indicators Yet US Has Not Struck Iran — Former Pentagon Official Cites One Key Reason

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has said he has not yet decided whether to launch a military strike against Iran, but that he has many options available to him.

This comes despite the United States having deployed military forces and conducted extensive naval and air deployments across the Middle East.

The scale of US capability indicates the Pentagon would be able to carry out air strikes lasting weeks or even months, particularly given the largest build-up of air power in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

What is preventing a strike now?

In an interview with Al Jazeera, cited on Monday (23 February 2026), former Pentagon and White House military official David De Roche said the only thing preventing an American strike on Iran is the pace of the military build-up.

De Roche said: “The problems and disputes have been ongoing for years between Iran on one side and Iran’s neighbouring countries and the United States on the other. However, what is different and has happened recently are the popular protests that took place in Iranian cities in December and January, as well as President Trump’s statement that he would take action regarding the matter. That is why we find ourselves in a military situation that is different from where things stood in November.”

In his remarks to Al Jazeera, De Roche stated that the Trump administration believes negotiations will not yield results, as Iran is not serious — particularly given Tehran’s insistence on conducting indirect negotiations and its commitment to limiting talks to criteria resembling the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear agreement from the era of former President Barack Obama.