As I’d mentioned in today’s earlier post
The US appears to be gearing up for a possible escalation with Iran.( There will be a second post today covering the possibility of escalation)
Read below from Stars and Stripes
Increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz persisted this week as the U.S. and Israel reportedly were preparing for renewed strikes on Iran.
Reports that the U.S. and Israel have developed plans to potentially attack Iran following next month’s U.S. midterm elections come after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss new strikes,
The New York Times reported Thursday, citing unidentified U.S. officials. In an X post Tuesday, Hegseth said he had met with service members in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, which includes Israel. Hegseth confirmed the trip, saying while visiting U.S. troops that he had an opportunity to meet with Netanyahu, CBS News reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Israeli jets flew over Syria and Iraq on Monday, going as far as the Iranian border, according to the online news agency Axios, which cited unidentified U.S. and Israeli officials. Israel described the action as a training exercise aimed at deterring Iran from attacking ahead of scheduled elections, Axios reported, adding that the event was not connected to Hegseth’s visit. Meanwhile, the U.S. is discreetly reducing its troop presence at bases in the Middle East due to threats from Tehran and the Iran-backed Houthi militant group in Yemen, CBS News reported Wednesday. And the State Department has ordered nonessential U.S. Embassy personnel and their families to leave Saudi Arabia.
A CENTCOM spokesman did not directly address the reported drawdown of military personnel, saying the command regularly moves service members and assets to optimize readiness, according to CBS News. Those actions along with surging Iranian attacks on shipping appear to have brought the Middle East to another flashpoint as President Donald Trump mulls renewed combat operations against Iran. It’s not certain whether Trump will approve the strikes. He has repeatedly suggested in recent months that he is considering a major attack but has yet to order one.
The threat to commercial shipping continued Wednesday, when an unknown projectile struck a tanker in the Persian Gulf near Bukha, Oman, according to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Center, a British military organization that monitors regional threats. There have been at least 28 attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz region this month, a surge not seen since the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Iran in late February, according to Noam Raydan, a senior fellow for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. That puts the month of October on “steroids” compared with March, when there were 19 confirmed attacks on ships in the region, Raydan said in a Seatrade Maritime News podcast published Monday. She noted that the attacks persist despite U.S. efforts to protect ships and facilitate the flow of oil through the critical waterway, an indication that Iranian forces are trying to target as many vessels as possible. “This is a clear sign that while Iran really cannot completely hold the movement of vessels, Iran is capable, Iranian forces in the strait are capable of sustaining disruption,” she said. CENTCOM commander Adm.
Brad Cooper characterized the attacks as signs of growing desperation ( Desperation does not come to my mind) by Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard, which has been hit hard by U.S. operations to enforce a maritime blockade against Iranian ports. That effort has prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion in crude oil, money typically used to finance military operations, proxy groups and terrorism, Cooper said in a video posted to X on Friday.
The U.S. also has frozen about $350 million in cryptocurrency, further straining the country’s economy and leaving Iran unable to pay Revolutionary Guard troops, Cooper said. Some 400 merchant ships had traveled through the strait in the seven days preceding Cooper’s video update, and U.S. forces had assisted in the transit of 100 million barrels of crude oil over the same period, he said. Cooper added that more than 1.3 billion barrels of crude have transited the waterway in recent months.
Despite the increased oil flow, Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, was trading at nearly $112 on Thursday, up more than $3 from the day before. ( I don’t personally believe there is an increased oil flow, that’s simply spin- it contradicts the previously made statement “prevented Iran from exporting at least $25 billion in crude oil“ )
On Thursday, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was in the Philippine Sea for an exercise with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the Australian, Canadian and French navies, U.S. 7th Fleet said in a Facebook post. The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group was heading west across the Pacific Ocean after leaving San Diego earlier this month. Both groups will reportedly deploy to the Middle East by the end of November, adding 9,000 to 10,000 sailors and Marines to the region. USNI News’ fleet tracker lists four destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea and two in the Red Sea. About 50,000 U.S. troops are deployed in the Middle East
The rumour is the US and Israel may hit Iran as soon as today/tonight- October 23/26.
One reply on “US, Israel weigh new Iran strikes”
two new posts today- enjoy!