The United States has warned several Arab states on the Persian Gulf, through diplomatic and military channels, to prepare for a new round of strikes on the Islamic Republic after the midterm congressional elections on Tuesday, 3 November. According to people familiar with the messages, the operation under discussion would be "short but heavy" and could last several days.
Two diplomats familiar with the warnings said US diplomatic and defence officials have asked regional allies to take precautions against a possible Islamic Republic attack on their energy facilities and other critical infrastructure. According to the same diplomats, Donald Trump has not yet made a final decision on ordering a strike. The targets named in these reports are the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure and missile and drone capabilities.
US military preparations in the region
According to the same reports, another Patriot missile defence system is being moved from Texas to Israel, some troops have been relocated from vulnerable bases in the Middle East, and bombers and fighter jets are on standby. An aircraft carrier strike group and a Marine expeditionary unit will also join the roughly 20 US warships in the region next month. The White House declined to explain these preparations and said only that Trump is keeping all options on the table so that the Islamic Republic never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Trump had said earlier that he would not attack the Islamic Republic during the election campaign, but at a campaign rally in Texas on Tuesday, 27 October, he said you would see Iran "in a few weeks". Israel has also set out its targets and, as DIAR reported earlier, has asked the US for permission to strike Iran's energy facilities. In Congress, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy had called the new strike plan insane.
Gulf states' concerns and the Islamic Republic's threats
The Arab Gulf states are trying to prevent a new war, because in the previous round of fighting, which began on 28 February 2026, the Islamic Republic's missiles and drones hit US bases, diplomatic buildings, energy facilities and airports on their territory. Islamic Republic officials have warned that they will answer any new attack by striking economic and military targets across the region. The US and its allies are meanwhile trying to replenish missile defence stocks that were depleted in the previous war.
At the same time, Qatar, backed by regional partners, is pursuing mediation between Washington and Tehran, and Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said inspectors have no access to damaged nuclear sites and cannot verify the status of the Islamic Republic's nuclear material.
The US has told its Gulf allies that a new operation against the Islamic Republic after 3 November could last several days.
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