It's the Brian Lair show on WNYC.

Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Kusha Navidar filling in for Brian today.

President Donald Trump met with his newly formed Board of Peace at the same time

as he weighed military action in Iran. CNN first broke the news that the U.S. military is prepared

to strike Iran as early as this weekend, though President Trump is still weighing that timeline. Here he is speaking at his

Board of Peace inaugural meeting yesterday.

Now we may have to take it a step further or we may not. Maybe we're going to make a deal.

You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days.

The USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier Group and its flotilla of warships is already in the region with a second carrier group, the USS Gerald Ford, on the way.

On Tuesday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini posted an AI-generated photo of the Ford at the bottom of the ocean.

New satellite images show rapid fortification at several key nuclear sites in Iran.

Joining us now to break down the latest is Fred Kaplan,

Slate's war stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books,

and his latest, a novel, a capital calamity.

Fred, welcome back to WNYC.

Thanks.

Good to be here.

So we can take a few of your comments, listeners, or questions on the Trump administration's

escalation with Iran, which the president is threatening will play out in the next several

days.

So if you're listening, is there anyone with ties to Iran or the broader region listening?

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