'Like 1990 Persian Gulf War I': Ex-Nato commander warns US Middle East buildup mirrors 'Dante’s Inferno'

Former Nato commander Admiral James Stavridis described the recent US military buildup near Iran as “Dante’s Inferno.” The heavy American presence comes amid President Donald Trump’s fury toward Tehran’s Khamenei regime and escalating tensions between the two nations. Speaking to CNN, Stavridis said, “It's like 1990 Persian Gulf War I. This is a huge amount of US firepower. And let's kind of do it from the outside in, if you will, and concentric rings descending like Dante's inferno.”

He described the layered military structure. “On the outer rings are big strategic bombers. They can come all the way from the United States. They can operate from other bases but at a distance,” he said. Moving further inward, the admiral pointed towards “two aircraft carriers… It's in the northern part of the Indian Ocean. The other one is going to park right against Israel,” he said, adding that this creates “two axes.”




According to Stavridis, each carrier group carries significant air power. “These are 80 combat aircraft each with F-35s. our most advanced jets as well as plenty of FNA18 Hornets.”

He continued outlining additional capabilities, “And when you go inside that, you've got the capacity to launch tomahawk missiles. Uh you can send drones in, you can use cyber, and of course there's landbased aircraft, air force aircraft at many of those bases you show there.”

And at the focus of the whole presence is Iran “so again, think of it like Dante's Inferno descending. Right in the center of it at the very bottom is Ayatollah Khamenei. I agree with President Trump. He would be wise to negotiate.”

His comments come as tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated. The United States has ordered the departure of nonessential diplomatic staff and family members from Lebanon, citing rising regional tensions linked to the threat of military strikes on Iran, according to a State Department official quoted by AP. The official further added that the move followed an ongoing security review and was intended as a precautionary measure.

US President Donald Trump has reportedly weighed the possibility of a limited military strike against Iran, even as another round of negotiations between the two sides is scheduled to take place in Geneva on Thursday.

Iran, meanwhile, warned on Monday it would retaliate “ferociously” against any US attack and repeated its warning of a possible regional conflagration following Trump’s latest threat of strikes.