U.S. Central Command told Israeli military officers in the United States to prepare for the possibility that the war on Iran could resume, Israel's public broadcaster Kan reported Thursday. Kan's Itay Blumenthal cited an unnamed American official, who said Gulf states got a similar message. CENTCOM told Al Jazeera the reports were "mere speculation."
No decision to strike has been reported, and no one has said when. The report runs against what Donald Trump and Marco Rubio have said in public this week: that large-scale strikes are no longer needed.
A day earlier, Israel's security cabinet ordered the military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran, Kan reported. Kan said those orders "could lead it to carry out activities that could trigger a war." Benjamin Netanyahu is serving as caretaker prime minister after losing his majority in the October election. His likely successor, Gadi Eisenkot, wrote to him not to deploy the military "without a direct and immediate threat" until a new government forms. Netanyahu's office called the letter irresponsible. The security cabinet is due to meet Sunday.
The U.S. has forces in the region if a decision comes. Kan counts about 200 aerial refueling aircraft and two carriers, with a third carrier expected next week.
Trump told Hugh Hewitt on Thursday that nobody had been killed in the last five months. If things went the other way, he said, "I would not hesitate." If Iran killed a senior American official, he said, "They will not exist very long any longer."
Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, posted that if the U.S. "launches another war against Iran, every military base involved in the aggression, from West Asia to Europe, will be a legitimate target."
What we don't know is whether any of this becomes a strike, or when. Netanyahu's cabinet meets Sunday. Whether Trump would join an Israeli strike, or stop one, is an open question.
Sources: Kan, Nov. 12 (via Israel National News and Israel Hayom) · Al Jazeera, Nov. 12 · APA, citing Al Jazeera, Nov. 12 · Middle East Monitor, Nov. 12 · The Jerusalem Post · Hugh Hewitt Show, Salem, Nov. 12 (clips via Aaron Rupar)
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