US Warns Gulf Allies of Possible Iran Strikes After Midterm Elections

US allies in the Gulf have been warned to prepare for the possibility of a brief but intense new wave of American strikes against Iran soon after the midterm elections.

Donald Trump has pledged not to attack Iran before the November 3 vote, 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,” he told supporters.

“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.’”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that several Arab allies in the Gulf had been urged to prepare for a concentrated US assault on Tehran shortly after the election.

US forces have started readying bomber aircraft and fighter jets while replenishing ammunition stocks. The Pentagon has also deployed another carrier strike group to the region, where roughly 20 American warships are already operating.

A Patriot air-defense system from Texas is being sent to reinforce US missile defenses. Troops have been relocated from bases considered vulnerable, while diplomats have been instructed in recent weeks to leave embassies.

People close to Trump said the president has not authorized the operation, but is seeking the option of launching an attack on Iranian 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 Our News Outlet when asked about the reported preparations.

Our News Outlet has contacted the White House for comment.

Trump brought his midterm campaign tour 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 bound for processing at Texas refineries.

The Iran conflict has become a political liability for a president who campaigned on keeping the United States out of overseas wars.

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

The national average price of gasoline is now $4.27 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). Diesel costs $6.35 per gallon, down from a record $6.52 reached at the end of September.

Regular gasoline averaged $2.81 per gallon in January. The highest nationwide average on record was $5.02, recorded in June 2022 under former President Joe Biden.

Even so, 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 means the average has been marginally 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. 

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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 Our News Outlet 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.