Trump plans to resume Iran strikes after midterms, with attacks possible as soon as 4 November, reports say
MS NOW, citing three senior Gulf Arab officials, reports the Trump administration has briefed Gulf allies to prepare for a short, intense round of strikes as early as 4 November, though the White House has not confirmed the plan and no final decision has been announced.
United States President Donald Trump is planning to resume strikes on Iran after next week's midterm elections, with his administration briefing Gulf allies to prepare for a short, intense round of attacks as early as 4 November, according to a report published on Friday by MS NOW.
The report, citing three senior Gulf Arab officials speaking on condition of anonymity, says the strikes could begin the day after Americans vote in the midterm elections on 3 November. It is the most specific timing yet attached to warnings that Washington has been giving its regional partners in recent days, and it lands only days before polling day, when Trump has promised not to launch any new attack.
According to the officials, the administration has told Gulf governments to expect a brief but heavy campaign rather than a prolonged operation. Two former administration officials told MS NOW that Trump believes one decisive blow could either force Tehran into a deal or finally destroy its nuclear programme. The report also says Trump has named Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site linked to Iran's nuclear programme, as a possible target.
The White House has not confirmed the report. An official told MS NOW that it does not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist, adding only that Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. No final decision on a new campaign has been announced, and the report itself stresses that the plan remains unconfirmed by Washington.
The MS NOW account follows an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal, which said the United States had warned several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a possible military campaign against Iran after the midterms. That reporting, later confirmed in part by the Associated Press through diplomats briefed on the matter, said US officials had urged allies to protect energy facilities and other critical infrastructure, warning that Iran's response could target them.
At the same time, the military build-up around the region has continued. The United States is sending a third aircraft carrier strike group, led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, towards the Middle East, carrying about 9,000 sailors and Marines, with officials saying the force will arrive at the end of November. A Patriot air defence battery has been moved from Texas to the region, bomber aircraft and fighter jets are being positioned, and a Marine expeditionary unit is expected to join roughly 20 US warships already operating in Middle Eastern waters.
Trump himself has kept both tracks open in public. At a rally last week he said the United States could launch another operation, referring to the earlier bombing campaign known as Operation Epic Fury, or Iran could agree to a deal, telling the crowd: “We may do another little Epic Fury, or they'll agree.” On Friday he again said he believed the war would be wrapped up soon, without explaining how.
The diplomatic track has not stopped either. Vice President JD Vance recently wrote to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, proposing a meeting to resume talks, and Qatari mediators were in Tehran again on Friday pushing for an agreement. Reports say Qatar has proposed a seven-day plan of mutual confidence-building measures, with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff involved in the effort. Iran has confirmed receiving Vance's letter but has not publicly answered it.
Gulf allies, meanwhile, are pushing for de-escalation, according to the MS NOW report, because they fear Iranian retaliation on their own soil if strikes resume. One Gulf official told the outlet they would not be surprised if some Gulf states resisted US strikes launched from bases on their territory. Iran has warned through public and private channels that any fresh attack would prompt retaliation against economic and civilian targets across the region.
The war between the United States, Israel and Iran began in late February 2026 and is now eight months old. The United States has not struck Iran since 1 September, and Trump has pledged no new attacks before the midterms, a promise that has held through the final stretch of the campaign even as warnings to allies have grown louder.
What happens next now turns on two dates. The first is 3 November, when Americans vote and the midterm results become clear. The second is 4 November, the earliest date the reported strikes could begin. Between them sits the unanswered question of whether Tehran replies to Vance's letter, whether Qatari mediation produces a draft both sides can accept, or whether the military preparations under way in the Gulf turn into the new round of fighting that Washington's allies have been told to expect.
