The United States and Israel have drawn up detailed plans for a fresh round of strikes on Iran to be carried out after the November 3 midterm elections, The New York Times reported Wednesday — and President Trump, asked the same night whether Washington is negotiating with Tehran, said it is not, and that "something" will happen "fairly soon."
Trump made the remarks to NewsNation's Libbey Dean on Wednesday night as he returned from a campaign rally in South Carolina. Asked whether he was done negotiating with the Iranian government, he said: "No, I think we're not negotiating… we are going to have something, one way or the other. It'll happen fairly soon." He added: "Most people seem to think it's after the election, and we're going to see what happens." And he stood by the campaign so far: "But I will say this: what we've done with Iran is amazing." At the rally itself, he told supporters the conflict would end very soon — "It'll end very soon. We could leave now, but we want to make sure it lasts for a long time."
The Times, citing U.S. officials and others briefed on the deliberations, reported that the two militaries are planning a short, intensive operation of roughly three days. The target list, as reported, runs to Iran's nuclear facilities — the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain site is named as a possible target — its energy infrastructure, and its missile and drone arsenal. Some U.S. planners believe three days of strikes could do enough economic damage to force Tehran into nuclear concessions. Other officials said refineries and oil infrastructure would be avoided so as not to push gasoline prices higher.
"No, I think we're not negotiating… we are going to have something, one way or the other. It'll happen fairly soon." — President Donald Trump
The preparations, according to the report, have intensified in recent weeks: American and Israeli aircraft have been flying over Iraq to rehearse strike maneuvers, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed the possibility of renewed attacks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel this week. The American force being assembled — three aircraft carriers, thousands of Marines, fighter jets and special operations units — is expected to be fully in place by early November, when the longer nights over Iran also favor an attacking force.
None of it has been approved, and the Times reported that Trump has vetoed several proposals for a return to major combat this year — most recently earlier this month, when both militaries were nearly ready to strike. The Financial Times reported that Israel was ready to attack on the weekend of October 10 before Trump stopped it because of the elections; the Jerusalem Post, citing IDF sources, disputed that a strike had been planned for October 10 at all. Trump publicly pledged on October 8 not to attack Iran before Americans vote, and officials allowed there is only a small chance he orders a campaign this month. A White House official declined to discuss military plans "that may or may not exist," saying all options remain on the table to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Tehran, for its part, has answered the reporting with threats of its own. Iranian figures have warned that a renewed attack would bring retaliation against regional targets — Saudi oil refineries, data centres and undersea internet cables among them. So both sides are now on the record with a version of the same sentence: Washington says something will happen fairly soon, and Tehran says it is ready for it. What neither has said is that anyone is negotiating.