October 28, 2026
Citing people briefed on the conversations, WSJ said the messages were relayed through diplomatic and military channels, adding to mounting signs that Washington and Tel Aviv are preparing a renewed assault on Iran.
The warning comes as an additional US aircraft carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit prepare to join roughly 20 other warships operating in West Asia in November.
On 1 October, AP reported that the US was dispatching roughly 9,000 additional personnel to the region, including the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, which carries the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
A US official told AP the deployment could bring the number of US aircraft carriers in the region to three.
The reinforcements add to a US military presence already estimated at roughly 50,000 personnel in early October.
US forces in West Asia are also replenishing their weapons stockpiles and readying bombers and fighter jets for strikes, WSJ reported, adding that a Patriot air defense system is being shipped from Texas and troops have been pulled from exposed bases.
Trump is reportedly leaning toward a large-scale assault on Iranian infrastructure and nuclear sites as soon as the midterms are over, holding off until after the vote to shield an approval rating that has sunk to the lowest on record across either of his two terms, according to a number of surveys.
“We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump told his supporters at a rally, “Or they’ll agree.”
Israel has also drawn up plans and targets for a new attack, WSJ reported, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continuing to lobby for renewed strikes aimed at weakening Iran and ultimately toppling its government.
Tehran has repeatedly asserted that any renewed aggression would draw a forceful response against economic and civilian targets across the region.
Having withstood more than 20,000 US and Israeli strikes, Iran still commands an arsenal of hundreds to thousands of missiles, and it has used the lull in fighting to rebuild its stocks and fortify its defenses.
A senior Iranian official denied that Qatar had handed Tehran a new proposal to end the US-Israeli war, telling Reuters that Qatari mediators had instead put forward a set of “unacceptable” ideas and that Tehran would not budge on the nuclear issue.
The denial contradicts an earlier Reuters report that Qatar had presented Iran with a seven-day plan to end the war.
Replenishing the munitions expended in the war accounts for the largest share of that sum, projected at more than $29 billion, while over $6 billion is needed to replace lost military equipment and aircraft, a significant number of them drones.
The estimate spans operational expenses from flight operations to cyber support, yet does not clearly account for the considerable cost of repairing US bases struck by Iranian missiles and drones.
The Hill, which obtained a separate US Central Command (CENTCOM) estimate shared with Congress, likewise reported that the figures exclude the cost of damage to US military bases across West Asia, leaving one of the highest expected costs of the war off the books.
According to the CENTCOM document, dated 16 October, nearly $12 billion has been committed to the incremental costs of military action, while $7.6 billion goes to Air Force support for deployed personnel, airlift, bases, communications, and transportation in the theater of operations.
The overall bill has grown by more than $3 billion since early September, when the Pentagon placed the cost of the war at approximately $43.6 billion.
Washington’s war on Iran has inflicted heavy losses and damage to the US military, depleting its weapons stockpiles, downing dozens of its aircraft, and destroying bases and assets across the region.
A Congressional Research Service report updated on 5 October found that at least 81 US military aircraft had been destroyed or damaged since the war began on 28 February, nearly double the 42 recorded in May.
Drones accounted for more than half of the total losses, with 45 MQ-9 Reapers downed during the war, a figure representing one-fourth of the entire US fleet.
The US war on Iran has seen dozens of fighter jets, refueling tankers, surveillance aircraft, and special operations planes downed or damaged, many of them by Iranian missile and drone strikes on US air bases across the region.
The war has depleted US weapons stockpiles faster than they can be replenished, with Washington burning through more than 1,000 advanced interceptors and virtually all of its accurate long-range missiles by August.
The War Department’s inspector general confirmed the shortfall in a report to Congress on 14 September, warning that the war had exposed bottlenecks in munitions resupply and that expanding production would require considerable lead time.
Trump is
holding off until after the midterms before unleashing what he calls ‘another
little Epic Fury’ on Iran
The US
has warned its Gulf allies of a possible “short, intense” attack on Iran after
the US midterms have concluded, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on 28
October.
Citing people briefed on the conversations, WSJ said the messages were relayed through diplomatic and military channels, adding to mounting signs that Washington and Tel Aviv are preparing a renewed assault on Iran.
The warning comes as an additional US aircraft carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit prepare to join roughly 20 other warships operating in West Asia in November.
On 1 October, AP reported that the US was dispatching roughly 9,000 additional personnel to the region, including the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and the USS Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, which carries the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
A US official told AP the deployment could bring the number of US aircraft carriers in the region to three.
The reinforcements add to a US military presence already estimated at roughly 50,000 personnel in early October.
US forces in West Asia are also replenishing their weapons stockpiles and readying bombers and fighter jets for strikes, WSJ reported, adding that a Patriot air defense system is being shipped from Texas and troops have been pulled from exposed bases.
Trump is reportedly leaning toward a large-scale assault on Iranian infrastructure and nuclear sites as soon as the midterms are over, holding off until after the vote to shield an approval rating that has sunk to the lowest on record across either of his two terms, according to a number of surveys.
“We may do another little Epic Fury,” Trump told his supporters at a rally, “Or they’ll agree.”
Israel has also drawn up plans and targets for a new attack, WSJ reported, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continuing to lobby for renewed strikes aimed at weakening Iran and ultimately toppling its government.
Tehran has repeatedly asserted that any renewed aggression would draw a forceful response against economic and civilian targets across the region.
Having withstood more than 20,000 US and Israeli strikes, Iran still commands an arsenal of hundreds to thousands of missiles, and it has used the lull in fighting to rebuild its stocks and fortify its defenses.
A senior Iranian official denied that Qatar had handed Tehran a new proposal to end the US-Israeli war, telling Reuters that Qatari mediators had instead put forward a set of “unacceptable” ideas and that Tehran would not budge on the nuclear issue.
The denial contradicts an earlier Reuters report that Qatar had presented Iran with a seven-day plan to end the war.
The
figure covers munitions replenishment, equipment, aircraft losses, and a range
of operational expenses
Pentagon
data obtained by Reuters on 28 October revealed that the US war on Iran has
cost more than $47 billion to date, an unpublished figure over 25 percent above
the $37.5 billion estimate presented by War Secretary Pete Hegseth in July.Replenishing the munitions expended in the war accounts for the largest share of that sum, projected at more than $29 billion, while over $6 billion is needed to replace lost military equipment and aircraft, a significant number of them drones.
The estimate spans operational expenses from flight operations to cyber support, yet does not clearly account for the considerable cost of repairing US bases struck by Iranian missiles and drones.
The Hill, which obtained a separate US Central Command (CENTCOM) estimate shared with Congress, likewise reported that the figures exclude the cost of damage to US military bases across West Asia, leaving one of the highest expected costs of the war off the books.
According to the CENTCOM document, dated 16 October, nearly $12 billion has been committed to the incremental costs of military action, while $7.6 billion goes to Air Force support for deployed personnel, airlift, bases, communications, and transportation in the theater of operations.
The overall bill has grown by more than $3 billion since early September, when the Pentagon placed the cost of the war at approximately $43.6 billion.
Washington’s war on Iran has inflicted heavy losses and damage to the US military, depleting its weapons stockpiles, downing dozens of its aircraft, and destroying bases and assets across the region.
A Congressional Research Service report updated on 5 October found that at least 81 US military aircraft had been destroyed or damaged since the war began on 28 February, nearly double the 42 recorded in May.
Drones accounted for more than half of the total losses, with 45 MQ-9 Reapers downed during the war, a figure representing one-fourth of the entire US fleet.
The US war on Iran has seen dozens of fighter jets, refueling tankers, surveillance aircraft, and special operations planes downed or damaged, many of them by Iranian missile and drone strikes on US air bases across the region.
The war has depleted US weapons stockpiles faster than they can be replenished, with Washington burning through more than 1,000 advanced interceptors and virtually all of its accurate long-range missiles by August.
The War Department’s inspector general confirmed the shortfall in a report to Congress on 14 September, warning that the war had exposed bottlenecks in munitions resupply and that expanding production would require considerable lead time.
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