White House and Israeli leaks to Axios point to a possible return to full-scale war against Iran timed around two elections—the Israeli vote on Oct. 27 and the U.S. midterms a week later. Unnamed U.S. officials told Axios’ Barak Ravid on Oct. 7 that the Pentagon instructed U.S. Central Command several days earlier to finish preparations for resuming major combat operations. The directive set no date, and President Trump has made no final decision. U.S. and Israeli sources said strikes could come before the midterms, possibly even before the Israeli election. If operations resume, sources said, they would include heavy bombing of Iranian energy, infrastructure and nuclear targets.

A White House official said Trump has all options available at any time. “The U.S. is in a very strong position with control of the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian economy collapsing. Iran has been decimated, and things will go one of two ways: the easy way or the hard way,” the official said. “President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States.”