US Alerts Gulf Allies to Possible Iran Strikes After Midterms

US allies in the Gulf have been warned that Washington could launch a “short, intense renewal” of strikes against Iran soon after the November midterm elections.

Donald Trump has pledged not to attack Iran before the November 3 elections, but he issued a stark warning about the conflict during a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday.

“We brought inflation way down. We have it way down now. When the war ends, it will come way down. It can be over whenever I want it to be over. Someone asked me, ‘When will the war in Iran end?’ I said, whenever I want it to end,” he told supporters.

Several Gulf Arab allies have reportedly been asked to prepare for a brief but intense US assault on Tehran in the period following the election, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The US military has begun readying bomber aircraft and fighter jets, replenishing its munitions and deploying another carrier strike group to the region, which already includes around 20 warships.

American missile defenses are also being reinforced with a Patriot system from Texas. Troops have been relocated from bases considered vulnerable, while diplomats have been instructed to leave embassies in recent weeks.

People close to President Trump said he has not yet authorized the strikes, but is considering an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and other infrastructure after the election.

“The Department is a planning organization and its job is to develop and execute military options ordered by the President,” a senior Pentagon official told The Daily Mail when asked about the reported preparations.

The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.

Trump brought his midterm campaign blitz to Texas, where Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton is facing a close contest against Democrat James Talarico.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Trump to showcase a newly arrived oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude destined for processing at Texas refineries.

The war with Iran has become an unexpected political liability for a president who campaigned on keeping the United States out of foreign conflicts.

Republican strategists privately concede that the conflict is seriously undermining the party’s efforts to retain control of Congress, as rising gasoline prices push up costs throughout the economy.

The national average price of gasoline currently stands at $4.27 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association. Diesel is averaging $6.35, down from a record $6.52 reached at the end of September.

Regular gasoline averaged $2.81 per gallon in January. The highest US national average on record was $5.02 per gallon in June 2022, during the presidency of Joe Biden.

Yet the average gasoline price during Trump’s second term has been $3.473 per gallon, compared with $3.471 under Biden, according to a CNN analysis of AAA data. That puts the average slightly higher under Trump.

Those skyrocketing costs, which rose as a result of President Trump’s war with Iran that he often calls a ‘little detour,’ are sinking Republicans on the campaign trail. 

Americans are angry at soaring energy prices and frustrated over the nearly eight-month Iran war, which Trump initially said would be over within weeks. At a rally in Michigan on Sunday, Trump dismissed the concerns on higher gas prices, calling them a ‘small price to pay.’

However, the drawn-out conflict has instead rocked the global economy and piled fresh pressure on Americans already struggling with the cost of living.

An AP-NORC poll released last week found voters in both parties want the next Congress to focus on bringing down everyday costs and ending the war which has presented another headache for GOP candidates ahead of the November 3 elections. 

SEE ALSO: The Audacious Email That Convinced Meghan Markle to Join MasterChef

Paxton was caught trashing the war in audio leaked by Axios from a private event last month. 

At the event, Paxton was asked by an attendee what he sees as ‘dragging’ his campaign, to which he responded: ‘It’s not tariffs…. It’s the war, it’s gas prices, it’s diesel,’ according to the audio from September 24th.

The Lone Star State Republican made the admission to a room of lobbyists at a private fundraising lunch in Washington, DC.

Although Trump tried to address diesel costs by making a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin that centered on the administration issuing temporary licenses allowing Russian diesel imports into the US for six months, he faced criticism from Republicans.

In Iowa, where fall means harvest season as much as it does election season, Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson told the Daily Mail earlier in October that the diesel deal made her ‘nervous.’ 

Beyond a deal with Russia, Hinson floated several other fixes. She called for ‘investing in our refining capacity here in the United States that has gone by the wayside,’ and said the administration was taking steps to ‘reinvigorate American independence again.’ 

She also urged lawmakers to explore ‘a temporary pause in the gas tax’ and ‘potentially a diesel rebate program’ for farmers and truckers who rely on the fuel for work.

Hinson continued at the time that she has ‘seen this administration taking steps to make sure we reinvigorate America’s energy independence again,’ before adding that further proposals such as ‘a temporary pause in the gas tax,’ as well as ‘potentially a diesel rebate program for people who are, for instance, farmers or truckers using diesel for their jobs and their work,’ should be explored.

A new memo circulated by US intelligence claims that Iran is in the ‘advanced stages’ of plots to kill American officials in the Middle East and elsewhere. 

The news comes amid another spike in oil prices and rumors that Donald Trump may resume strikes on Tehran after the midterm elections.  

The memo, written by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, suggests the information should be used as part of a continued effort to draw down personnel at US embassies. 

Clayton said his teams ‘have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel.’

‘The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries,’ Clayton wrote.

Three US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed to the Associated Press that the memo was sent to Rubio in his capacity as secretary of state and national security adviser.

The memo emerged shortly after the State Department announced it is reducing staff at the US embassies in Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 

The three officials said the threats from Iran and Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels are related to the staffing changes.

The embassies involved are all under what is known as ‘restricted operations’ status that has already reduced the size of their personnel footprints. 

The embassies will remain open.

However, unlike in Saudi Arabia, where nonessential US personnel and their families were ordered Wednesday to leave the country, staff in the other four countries are not compelled to depart.

In announcing the staffing drawdowns this week, the State Department pointed specifically to increased threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels and did not mention threats to US personnel directly from Iran. 

There has been a resurgence of fighting between a Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis, with the militant group launching missile and drone strikes against Saudi Arabia. 

US officials have adamantly denied the drawdowns are tied to any potential new US and Israeli strikes on Iran.