CENTCOM Reportedly Plans for Strikes Against Iran: Will Trump Approve Them? | US-Israeli war against Iran

The US military has been developing options for further attacks on Iran, according to Washington-based website The Hill, raising the prospect of a new round of major fighting in a war approaching its eighth month.

Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East, has plans ready for follow-up strikes if the White House authorizes it, the outlet reported. He also said military planners had prepared several options for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The report focuses on possible attacks after the November 3 US midterm elections. But President Donald Trump suggested Saturday that the United States could strike as early as “tomorrow,” while hinting at the possibility of a “big, beautiful” deal with Tehran.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, accused Washington of derailing negotiations, but said efforts to reach a deal must continue. With both sides warning of further attacks, could the conflict tip into full-scale war? Here’s what we know.

What are the projects?

The latest reports suggest that military preparations are progressing, although it remains unclear which options Trump might approve and when. Earlier this month, Axios reported that the Pentagon had asked CENTCOM to complete preparations for a possible resumption of major combat operations. According to its sources, a new campaign could target Iranian energy installations, infrastructure and nuclear sites.

These preparations do not constitute an order to attack. The decision ultimately rests with Trump, whose public statements continue to leave room for both military action and negotiations.

Separately, on Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the United States and Israel had developed joint plans for an attack on Iran after the midterm elections. These reports add to U.S. warnings about alleged Iranian threats against U.S. personnel abroad. An intelligence memo sent Friday from Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Iran has “significantly increased its efforts to target U.S. personnel,” with deadly plots reaching “advanced stages” in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The State Department has ordered staff reductions at several regional embassies amid these warnings. The released memo did not identify specific targets or establish when alleged attacks might take place.

Trump added to the uncertainty. At a rally Friday, he said Washington “could go on another little Epic Fury,” referring to the code name for the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran that began on February 28. On Saturday, he refused to disclose the timetable for a possible attack while suggesting it could take place as early as Sunday.

Julie Norman, an associate research fellow at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera the preparations served as both a short-term posture and a possible longer-term military objective next month. “With Trump, I think he’s still keeping options on the table, but I think this particular development of plans is an immediate deterrent, but also a very real option after the midterm elections,” she said.

This comes as the United States deploys a third carrier strike group, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, as well as about 10,000 additional troops and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East by the end of November.

How did Iran react?

Tehran has combined its calls for new negotiations with warnings that further US attacks would prompt a broader response. “We were negotiating, the cowards (the Americans) ruined everything,” Pezeshkian said in remarks broadcast Saturday, before adding that efforts to close the deal must continue.

Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will also miss the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, according to the Iranian Embassy in India. The embassy cited “unforeseen circumstances” without providing further details.

On Sunday, the Iranian military also announced that it had shot down a US-developed LUCAS drone over the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The Reuters news agency reported, citing Iranian security officials, that Tehran had drawn up plans to target underwater communications cables in the Gulf in the event of renewed U.S. and Israeli attacks.

The incident follows Iranian claims that seven oil tankers caught fire or suffered damage in and around the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week, while on Wednesday Iran also announced what it described as a shift to an “offensive” military doctrine, warning that countries hosting bases used in US attacks could become targets.

“Our defense doctrine was previously defensive; we used to say that if a country attacks us, we will respond. Now we say that if a country attacks us, we will respond and launch an offensive,” said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebi.

The warning raises the prospect of a confrontation that would spread further across the region, with energy infrastructure and countries aligned with Washington potentially exposed. “Iran is also establishing its own target lists to include energy infrastructure and US-aligned states,” Norman said.

“So I would say that both sides are certainly very prepared for further escalation and project mutual readiness.”

“In the meantime, there is a very high risk of miscalculation on both sides, a very high risk of rapid escalation.”

October has become the worst month for attacks on ships since the war began in February, with more than 120 attacks reported so far.

Would another attack serve Trump’s interests?

The timing is politically sensitive, with Trump facing pressure to avoid further escalation ahead of the US midterm elections, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed for an attack as his support wanes in polls ahead of Tuesday’s elections.

This comes after Netanyahu said overthrowing Iran’s government remained Israel’s “main goal.”

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute of Higher Studies in Qatar, said recent developments point to renewed fighting rather than a diplomatic breakthrough. “There are a lot of signals, a lot of posturing suggesting that we are heading into a new round of fighting,” he told Al Jazeera.

He highlighted Hegseth’s recent visit to Israel and Washington’s reported withdrawal of personnel from regional diplomatic and military sites. “All of this suggests that the United States and Israel are considering (another round of attacks) against Iran, either soon or very soon,” he said.

“One of the fears is that this next round of fighting could actually be more dangerous, more catastrophic than the last one. »

Norman added that while the US president may be considering a strike against Iran after the midterm elections, “the big question for Trump’s military advisers is: What would further escalation deliver that other rounds haven’t delivered?” »

“What would these strategies do to force Iran to the negotiating table? And I don’t think there’s been a clear answer to that question.”