India, Jan. 30 -- The European Union appeared poised on Thursday to sanction Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard over Tehran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, further squeezing the Islamic Republic as it worries over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike against it.

America has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Mideast, which can be used to launch attacks from the sea. Iran has kept up its own threats as well, saying it could launch a preemptive strike or broadly target the Mideast, including American military bases and Israel. It remains unclear what Trump will decide about using force, though he has threatened to use it in response to the ki...