US puts military in ready mode for possible new strikes on Iran: Report

Washington: US President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on resuming major combat operations against Iran, but the Pentagon has been instructed to prepare for possible fresh strikes, Axios reported while citing US officials.

According to the report, the Pentagon instructed US Central Command (US CENTCOM) several days ago to conclude preparations for resuming major combat operations in Iran. The directive did not set a specific date for launching strikes.

US and Israeli officials told Axios that renewed combat operations could take place before the US midterm elections, scheduled to be held on November 3, and possibly ahead of Israeli elections, which are expected a week earlier.


If major combat operations resume, they are expected to include extensive strikes on Iranian energy, infrastructure, and nuclear targets, Axios reported, citing sources.

"The Department's job is to develop and present military options to the President," a Pentagon official told Axios.

A White House official said Trump has all options available at any time.

"The U.S. is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran has been decimated, and things will go one of two ways: the easy way or the hard way," the official said.

"President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States," the official added.

Axios also mentioned The Atlantic's report that Trump is weighing a strike on Iran before the US midterm elections.

Axios reported that Trump's national security team met at Camp David on Friday for several hours to discuss the war and other issues. An Israeli official said part of the meeting focused on a possible resumption of major combat operations in Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the meeting that it focused on "long-term" foreign policy planning.

Negotiations between the US and Iran have made no progress, according to Axios. Qatari mediators are still waiting for an Iranian response to a US counterproposal that included demands for nuclear concessions.

"The discussion about possible resumption of major combat operations in Iran has increased. The chances of it happening before the elections is not high but we don't rule it out. After the midterms the chances of it happening increase significantly," a second Israeli official told Axios.

Trump on Wednesday spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking their second call in a few days after they had barely spoken for several weeks.

A US official said Trump and Netanyahu spoke about "remembrance and respect for the victims of the October 7 massacre".

The call came after Netanyahu held a meeting with his national security team on Iran, according to the first Israeli official cited by Axios. Netanyahu also spoke with Rubio on Monday.

If major combat operations resume, they are likely to involve the US and Israel working in tandem, with the Israeli military participating, according to the report.

The two Israeli officials said the Iranian regime is desperate and paranoid, which could lead Tehran to strike first. They said Iran has suffered two surprise attacks and does not want to experience a third.

A renewed war could also affect Israeli elections, as Iran would likely fire hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation, Axios reported.

Meanwhile, Trump, while departing Washington for a Republican campaign rally in San Antonio on Wednesday (local time), said the US had taken away Iran's nuclear power.

While speaking to reporters, he said the war with Iran will end "very quickly" and claimed that oil prices will "come tumbling down".

"It is a war from the standpoint of what we have to do. We have to get rid of the nuclear weapons for Iran. We have taken away their nuclear power. If they had nuclear power, you would have had problems like you have never had before," Trump told reporters.

"Their whole country right now is wiped out. It will be over very quickly, and when it does, oil prices will come tumbling down," he added.

Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday reiterated his claims about US control over maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway "belongs to the United States Navy and the United States".

Speaking at Sparrows Point in Maryland, where he announced the construction of a new shipyard, Trump described the US naval presence in the region as an effective blockade against Iran.

"Nobody's ever seen a blockade like that, with no ships-zero-getting in," Trump said, adding that oil shipments from outside Iran had recovered to levels "almost higher than they've ever been."

Trump also described how vessels attempting to pass through the waterway were being dealt with.

"Every once in a while, they'll do a run, and they'll either hit the cabin-if it's got oil, they'll hit the cabin, or they'll hit the rudder. If it doesn't have oil, we just sink the ship," he said.

"In other words, the Hormuz Strait belongs to the United States Navy and the United States of America. That's where it belongs, and that's where it is right now," Trump said.

Trump said the US would remain the world's leading naval power.

"With the help of everyone here today, America is going to remain the undisputed naval superpower of the world," he said.

During the same event, Trump claimed that Iran's military had been severely weakened.

"We're doing extremely well in the Islamic Republic of Iran, very well. They have no military. It's shot; the whole place is shot. And they were the evil one. They were the bully of the Middle East. They're not so much the bully anymore, but we have to finish up. And it's only a question of which way do we want to do it, the nice way or the not-so-nice way? And pretty soon you'll find out," Trump said.

Trump also said he called the US maritime measures a "wall of steel" rather than a blockade and said the US Navy was ensuring that Iran would not obtain a nuclear weapon.