Donald Trump leans toward a new attack on the Islamic Republic; seizing islands on the table

US officials say President Donald Trump is leaning toward resuming military operations against the Islamic Republic, although he has not yet made a final decision. The assessment was published on Saturday, 24 October 2026, in a Wall Street Journal report citing these officials.

According to the same officials, the Pentagon has presented the president with several options: strikes on the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, strikes on critical infrastructure including bridges, and an operation to seize islands in the Persian Gulf controlled by the Islamic Republic. None of these options has yet been approved, and the possible timing of any of them is unclear.

Signs of escalation in the Iran–US war

The report comes a day after Donald Trump said at a rally in Florida that the United States may carry out another military operation against the Islamic Republic unless Tehran agrees to a deal. Before that, Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey, had said a US attack could come as early as this weekend.

In the same days, the aircraft carrier George Washington in the Arabian Sea has received new long-range missiles and bunker-buster bombs, and the US State Department has updated its travel warning for six Middle Eastern countries. US intelligence officials have also warned that the Islamic Republic's plots to assassinate US officials have reached an advanced stage.

Israel on the eve of elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an election video on Saturday night that the Islamic Republic has resumed its nuclear programme and seeks to destroy Israel within a short time. He called the week before the 27 October parliamentary elections a decisive week. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army chief of staff, had earlier warned that a new war close to the elections could lead to their postponement.

On the other side, Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly threatened in recent days that, in the event of a new attack, they will target airports, pipelines and undersea cables of the Persian Gulf countries; threats that place the cost of the war the regime has imposed on Iran once again on the shoulders of the people of the region and of Iranians.

The Pentagon has proposed to Donald Trump strikes on nuclear facilities and infrastructure and the seizure of islands controlled by the Islamic Republic.