US options, Iran warnings
US officials told CNN that US forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch new, potentially major, military operations against Iran within 96 hours of receiving an order from President Donald Trump, and one official said, “It will be a big effort.” CNN reported that US Central Command and the Pentagon have been developing a wide-ranging target list that includes Iranian energy infrastructure, military sites and nuclear facilities.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a German broadcaster that Tehran has not closed the window of diplomacy and that messages are being passed to the US via intermediaries. Baghaei said the US repeatedly uses the phrase “complete surrender,” which Baghaei said no Iranian accepts, as concerns rise about a return to all-out US-Iran war ahead of elections in the United States and Israel.
Close-up portrait of a smiling man in suit, US flag behind6 October 2017 · Archive photoPhoto: Shealah Craighead / White House, Public domainNetanyahu, Zamir, and timing
Channel 12 reported that an “unprecedented confrontation” has been unfolding between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir over an instruction by Netanyahu for unspecified military action that defense officials believe could lead to a swift confrontation with Iran shortly before the election. Netanyahu called the report “nonsense” and told Channel 14 that “there was no fight” with Zamir.
Eyal Zamir told Channel 13 that “We do not see any indications of a need to strike Iran before the election,” and he said that if Israel determines a strike is necessary, it will carry it out. Opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote that Netanyahu “wants to bring about an escalation and conflict with Iran just to postpone the election,” and Lapid said, “The man has gone off the rails.”
After elections, what’s at stake
CNN reported that recent US intelligence assessments indicate Iran and Houthi rebels are taking the possibility of renewed attacks by the US and potentially Israel very seriously, and the sources said Tehran and the Houthis would likely retaliate immediately by targeting American personnel and facilities around the region. CNN also reported that the US is expected to continue quietly pulling personnel from its embassies across the Middle East, and it said the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the only American diplomatic facility in the region under ordered departure.
Iran targets US personnel4 of 7 outlets reported it · not in TRT فارسی and 2 more▾
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned that a return to military conflict by the US will not make Iran change its stance, saying, “Whether there is war or not, our policies remain the same.” Araghchi insisted that the management of the Strait of Hormuz will not return to what it was before the war, saying, “Everyone must accept that fundamental and strategic changes have occurred in the region” and that “nothing will be the same as it was before.”