WASHINGTON — The US and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, The New York Times reported, citing US officials and other people briefed on the deliberations.
Meanwhile, Middle East mediators are scrambling to revive talks with Iran, fearful that hostilities could flare anew as the US moves another aircraft carrier to the region and Israel warns that it has prepared plans for possible new strikes.
President Donald Trump has said the US won’t attack Iran before the midterm elections on Nov. 3. But he has also sounded hawkish notes, threatening on social media on Sunday that unless Iran rapidly changes its behavior, the US and Israel “will soon finish the job.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that indirect negotiations with the US continue over a seven-day ceasefire proposal that President Trump initially rejected last month, with the US seeking new clauses.
Trump insisted on Tuesday that “we’re doing very well” with Iran, adding that he was yet to “make a final decision of which way do we want to win” the war, “the nice way or the not nice way.”
As planning for a short but intensive operation progresses, the US and Israeli militaries have stepped up exercises, flying planes over Iraq to practice strike maneuvers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss new strikes, US officials said.
The targets would likely include Iran’s energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenal. Some officials say one more big round of attacks could push Iran’s economy over the brink and force the country to make diplomatic concessions after nearly eight months of conflict.
Iranian officials have promised to retaliate this time by expanding their targets beyond commercial ships and energy infrastructure in the region to data centers and underwater internet cables.
They say the fighting will neither be quick nor limited.
While the US is assembling a massive arsenal that will be fully in place by early November, diplomatic efforts have continued, as US negotiators use the potential return to war as leverage with Iran to make progress on their demands on its nuclear program and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
So far, however, Iran’s negotiators have been unwilling to make concessions on the nuclear program, insisting on deferring that issue until later in the talks.
Some US planners are convinced that an intensive three-day campaign could cause enough economic damage to change the Iranian position.
Still, there are reasons to be skeptical that a renewed war would be any more successful than the first phase of intense US-Israeli strikes between February and April. Those rounds of fighting drove up energy prices and inflation around the world, eroded security in the Middle East and severely strained the Pentagon’s supply of missile interceptors.
It is also far from certain Trump will approve fresh strikes. Repeatedly this year he has vetoed plans for a return to major combat operations, including this month when the US and Israeli militaries were nearly ready to attack.
The US military has been quietly reducing its footprint at posts in the Middle East due to ongoing regional threats from the Iran-backed Houthis and direct threats from Iran, CBS News reported on Wednesday.
Asked about the reports, US Central Command spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told CBS News: “We regularly move US service members and assets to optimize mission readiness. We do not discuss related movements for operational security reasons. US forces remain vigilant and ready to protect American personnel and interests across the region.”
The State Department has also ordered non-essential US embassy personnel and their families to depart Saudi Arabia, citing threats posed by the Houthis.
CBS News has learned several US embassies in the Middle East have adjusted their staffing under “restricted operations” status.
The restricted operations status, which the department introduced in August amid flare-ups in the war with Iran, allows embassies to reduce staffing and services without fully suspending operations.
Source: Saudi Gazette