WorldPosted at: Oct 21 2026 8:52PM


Netanyahu’s bid to launch fresh strikes against Iran was reportedly blocked by Trump due to US midterms

Jerusalem/Washington, Oct 21 (UNI) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly planned to launch fresh strikes against Iran earlier this month, but was stopped by US President Donald Trump who opposed restarting the war before the US midterm elections, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Three sources told the newspaper that the Israeli military was prepared to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, regime sites and civilian infrastructure, including energy plants, over the weekend of October 10. Trump reportedly decided against authorising a renewed offensive ahead of the US midterms on November 3.
Netanyahu is also facing a very closely contested re-election battle in Israel’s parliamentary elections next Tuesday, making the polls a highly uncertain affair.
According to the report, any renewed Israeli operation would have been more intense than the strikes carried out by the US and Israel in February. It remains unclear whether Washington would have joined the planned attacks or whether Israel would have acted alone.
One source told the Financial Times that renewed strikes in the coming weeks, after the US and Israeli elections, remained “not an unreasonable scenario”. Another said Israel had prepared a new list of targets, including civilian infrastructure sites that had not previously been attacked.
The preparations may also have been intended to put pressure on Tehran during negotiations, one source suggested, adding that the decision to resume fighting ultimately rested with Trump.
“There will either be a deal or an attack,” one source told the newspaper. Another said: “Everything is on the table. Nothing would surprise me.”
The Pentagon did not comment on the report.
In response, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, warned Israel against taking further military action, regardless of the outcome of its election next week.
“Whatever the results of your election may be, we have no doubt about your hostility,” Azizi wrote in Hebrew on X. “We are ready to eradicate your evil from the region forever in response to the smallest operational misstep.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, writing in the Financial Times, said Tehran remained open to diplomacy but was prepared to defend itself.
“While Iran is firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves,” he wrote.
Araghchi accused the White House of showing little willingness to reach an understanding and said there was limited reason to expect progress in negotiations.
The report emerged two days after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel and met Netanyahu to discuss regional threats.
Reports of Netanyahu pressing for renewed strikes have surfaced repeatedly in recent weeks. On October 9, Trump said Washington would not attack Iran before the US midterms.
Days earlier, a report said Israeli military chief Lt Gen Eyal Zamir had warned American counterparts that an attack could lead to the postponement of Israel’s election.
Israeli assessments reportedly indicated that Iran could respond to a US strike with a large-scale missile barrage.
Channel 12 reported last week that Netanyahu had urged Trump to resume military action before the US and Israeli elections. The Israeli PMO denied that he was seeking to start a war before the polls.
Israeli security officials have also told the broadcaster that there had been no change in intelligence assessments of Iran that would justify a joint operation in the following two to three weeks.
Iran has reportedly conducted ballistic missile tests at several sites in recent days as it seeks to rebuild its weakened missile programme. The Israeli military assesses that the rebuilding effort remains slow and partial.
Diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran have largely stalled, with the future of Iran’s nuclear programme at the centre of the dispute. Iran maintains that its programme is peaceful, despite enriching uranium well beyond levels needed for most civilian applications and restricting access for international inspectors. Its ballistic missile programme is another point of contention.
The US has called for Iran’s nuclear programme to be dismantled. Vice President JD Vance said earlier this month that Tehran must make a “meaningful” reduction in its uranium enrichment capacity to meet Washington’s demands.
Iran has rejected those demands, arguing that the US must first meet seven conditions it set last month for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has blocked since the beginning of the war, according to an Iranian account of the discussions.
The conditions include ending a US blockade on Iranian ports, lifting sanctions on Iranian oil exports and halting hostilities across regional fronts, including the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
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