Reports: US and Israel Set to Restart Major Operations in Iran After Midterms

Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation . News outlets are reporting that the United States and Israel are preparing for a possible restart of major combat operations in the Iran War, likely to commence after the U.S. midterm elections this coming November. According to NPR , which cited a source briefed on the plans, Israel had indicated to the U.S. that it wanted to restart major operations in mid-October, just before its parliamentary elections were set to start. President Donald Trump reportedly dismissed that idea, opting to wait until next month. The New York Times also reported that the administration and Israel want to restart operations soon after the midterms, citing multiple U.S. officials and “other people briefed on the deliberations” in its reporting. According to that report, targets that the two countries could aim for in Iran include its missile and drone arsenals, but also civilian infrastructure such as power plants. The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure or structures that don’t have specific military objectives is largely considered a war crime . The restart of major operations within the ongoing conflict could be massive, with the goal reportedly being to push Iran to the brink of economic collapse, forcing them to make huge concessions in later negotiations, the Times reported . However, it’s unclear how successful such a campaign could be, as previous rounds of large-scale fighting failed to produce such an outcome. Related Story News | War & Peace US Reportedly Considering Dropping “Mother of All Bombs” on Iran The US has only ever dropped a MOAB once before — on Afghanistan in 2017. By Sharon Zhang , T ruthout October 15, 2026 Truthout “At this point in the war, what is clear is that the conventional military campaign waged to date, and the current punishing economic sanctions and American naval blockade, have not brought the regime back to the negotiating table in a meaningful way,” said Dana Stroul, a former Middle East policy official during the Biden administration, in remarks to the Times . Stroul added that neither Trump nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has made a compelling case for how more war would change this strategic dilemma.” In recent interviews, Trump has indicated that future attacks could be genocidal in nature, telling Time magazine that it was “possible” that he would “annihilate” the country in the coming weeks. Military exercises, apparently in preparation for an increase in hostilities, have already begun in Iraq. Israel also conducted a military jet “sortie” operation this week, in which dozens of its fighter jets flew dangerously close to Iran’s border. According to reporting from Axios , “some U.S. sources said they had the impression that Israel was hoping the Iranians would fire at the aircraft, providing a justification for launching strikes against Iran.” The delay in restarting major operations could be a deliberate move by the Trump administration, as U.S. voters are fed up with the continuation of the war, which many see as yet another long-term unwanted military conflict that is affecting people’s lives at home through its negative impacts on the economy . According to a recently published Associated Press/NORC poll , nearly 7 in 10 voters (68 percent) say that the next Congress should make ending the war one of its highest priorities. Another 24 percent said it should be a priority but not necessarily the highest one. And an Economist /YouGov poll from earlier this month found that 56 percent of Americans view Trump’s decision to start a war against Iran as a mistake, with only 29 percent saying it was the right decision. An urgent fundraising appeal: We have until midnight to raise $15,000 Truthout is one of only a few platforms for justice-oriented, grassroots journalism. Today, we face an existential threat. Due to Google’s launch of AI search, we’ve seen a drastic plunge in our site traffic and, as a result, our revenue. We lost 15 percent of our readership overnight. This was a readership we painstakingly built over decades, and it vanished because Google chose corporate greed over a healthy democracy. We are fundraising right now to meet our basic operating expenses. If you can support Truthout with a one-time or monthly donation, you will make a significant impact on our work. Anything you can do makes a difference — we appreciate your support. 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Prohibited: You cannot use this work for commercial purposes. Article HTML Republish HTML code for copying <h1>Reports: US and Israel Set to Restart Major Operations in Iran After Midterms</h1> By Chris Walker This article was originally published by <a href src="https://truthout.org/articles/reports-us-and-israel-set-to-restart-major-operations-in-iran-after-midterms/">Truthout</a> A majority of voters in the US say that Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran was a mistake. News outlets are reporting that the United States and Israel are preparing for a possible restart of major combat operations in the Iran War, likely to commence after the U.S. midterm elections this coming November. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/10/22/nx-s1-6011514/us-israel-iran-war">According to NPR</a>, which cited a source briefed on the plans, Israel had indicated to the U.S. that it wanted to restart major operations in mid-October, just before its parliamentary elections were set to start. President Donald Trump reportedly dismissed that idea, opting to wait until next month. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/us/politics/us-israel-renewed-iran-strikes.html">The New York Times also reported</a> that the administration and Israel want to restart operations soon after the midterms, citing multiple U.S. officials and “other people briefed on the deliberations” in its reporting. According to that report, targets that the two countries could aim for in Iran include its missile and drone arsenals, but also civilian infrastructure such as power plants. The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure or structures that don’t have specific military objectives <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/press/would-trumps-threatened-attacks-on-irans-infrastructure-be-a-war-crime/">is largely considered a war crime</a>. The restart of major operations within the ongoing conflict could be massive, with the goal reportedly being to push Iran to the brink of economic collapse, forcing them to make huge concessions in later negotiations, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/us/politics/us-israel-renewed-iran-strikes.html">the Times reported</a>. However, it’s unclear how successful such a campaign could be, as previous rounds of large-scale fighting failed to produce such an outcome. “At this point in the war, what is clear is that the conventional military campaign waged to date, and the current punishing economic sanctions and American naval blockade, have not brought the regime back to the negotiating table in a meaningful way,” said Dana Stroul, a former Middle East policy official during the Biden administration, in remarks to the Times. Stroul added that neither Trump nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has made a compelling case for how more war would change this strategic dilemma.” In recent interviews, Trump has indicated that future attacks could be genocidal in nature, <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/trump-bashes-press-for-reporting-he-initially-said-iran-war-would-last-4-weeks/">telling Time magazine that it was “possible” that he would “annihilate” the country</a> in the coming weeks. Military exercises, apparently in preparation for an increase in hostilities, have already begun in Iraq. Israel also conducted a military jet “sortie” operation this week, in which dozens of its fighter jets flew dangerously close to Iran’s border. <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/10/21/israel-military-training-sortie-iran-border">According to reporting from Axios</a>, “some U.S. sources said they had the impression that Israel was hoping the Iranians would fire at the aircraft, providing a justification for launching strikes against Iran.” The delay in restarting major operations could be a deliberate move by the Trump administration, as U.S. voters are fed up with the continuation of the war, which many see as yet another long-term unwanted military conflict that is affecting people’s lives at home through its <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/us-economy-iran-war-five-charts-rcna598412">negative impacts on the economy</a>. <a href="https://apnorc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/October-2026-Topline-final-1.pdf">According to a recently published Associated Press/NORC poll</a>, nearly 7 in 10 voters (68 percent) say that the next Congress should make ending the war one of its highest priorities. Another 24 percent said it should be a priority but not necessarily the highest one. <a href="https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_uVJWjRK.pdf">And an Economist/YouGov poll from earlier this month</a> found that 56 percent of Americans view Trump’s decision to start a war against Iran as a mistake, with only 29 percent saying it was the right decision. <hr> This <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/reports-us-and-israel-set-to-restart-major-operations-in-iran-after-midterms/">article</a> was originally published by <a href="https://truthout.org">Truthout</a> and is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)</a>. Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our <a href="https://truthout.org/republishing-policy">republishing guidelines</a>. Copy this HTML code to republish the article on your website Close Copy HTML This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) , and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license. Chris Walker Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout , based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker . Truthout

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