The United States and Israel are planning a possible attack on Iran in early November, a person briefed on the two countries’ war planning told NPR. The strike would come after Israel’s elections next week and the US midterm elections on November 3, with American forces now being amassed in the region.
According to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Israel had initially planned to strike Iran in mid-October, about two weeks before the Israeli elections on October 27, but President Donald Trump objected. The preparations, the source said, could also be part of a campaign to pressure Iran into a diplomatic deal rather than a certain path to war.
Netanyahu Campaigns on Toppling Iran’s Regime
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is seeking reelection, has been campaigning on a threat to topple Iran’s regime, NPR reported. The US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28 that killed its supreme leader and senior officials, and the two sides have since failed to uphold a ceasefire, trading strikes over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has blocked the key global waterway since the start of the war, targeting commercial vessels, while the US responded by imposing a blockade on Iranian ports and its oil shipments. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media on Thursday: “We are just as prepared for diplomacy as we are for war.”
Tehran Warns of Retaliation Across the Region
“Any scenario is conceivable, including the possibility of an attack by the US and Israel,” Araghchi said. Iranian state media quoted a security source warning that if Iranian officials or civilian infrastructure were attacked, Iran would retaliate against US interests in the region as well as the infrastructure and assets of countries participating in the war.
Analysts say the timing is delicate. With Israelis voting on October 27 and Americans on November 3, any escalation risks becoming entangled in domestic politics on both sides, even as military assets continue to pour into the Middle East.
