Israeli preparing for new war with Iran – without US support

Israel is reportedly gearing up for a unilateral air campaign against Iran if the US signs a deal with Tehran.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Israel is preparing for the possibility of carrying out further strikes against Iran on its own if the United States reaches an agreement that brings its war with Tehran to an end, according to an Israeli television report.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported Saturday that the military is keeping open the option of renewed attacks on Iranian targets without US participation, even as Washington increasingly explores a diplomatic route out of the months-long conflict.

The report comes amid signs of a potentially widening gap between Washington and Jerusalem over how long military operations against Iran should continue.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has privately warned senior Trump administration officials that the military options available for escalating the war could backfire, CNN reported.

Caine has been looking for an “off-ramp” from the conflict and is said to believe that air power by itself is unlikely to deliver a decisive outcome.

CNN reported Saturday that Caine has told other senior officials that the United States needs a way out of the war as fighting and Iranian-backed attacks spread across the region.

Israel, however, appears to be preparing for a scenario in which Washington decides that an agreement with Tehran is preferable to further escalation while Jerusalem concludes that Iranian military or nuclear capabilities still require action.

That concern has been heightened by evidence that Iran has been rapidly repairing some sites damaged during months of US and Israeli attacks.

Satellite imagery reviewed by the Wall Street Journal showed reconstruction at underground missile bases, weapons-related facilities, ports and other infrastructure.

Israeli officials told the newspaper that Iran was recovering more quickly than expected and that some strikes had merely collapsed entrances to deeply buried missile facilities without destroying the weapons stored inside.

The emerging debate over future military action comes as Iran and Oman move closer to an agreement governing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, a central focus of US efforts to de-escalate the conflict and restore normal energy shipments from the Persian Gulf.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Tehran and Muscat were “very close” to completing negotiations over a temporary shipping route.

Iranian officials have stressed, however, that such an agreement would not automatically mean the strait would fully reopen.

Mohammad-Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the waterway would remain closed until Washington “corrects its behavior.”

Tehran has demanded an end to US sanctions and military pressure, the withdrawal of American forces from around Iran and compensation for damage caused during the war.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has similarly sought to separate negotiations with Oman over maritime traffic from the broader question of ending Iran’s restrictions on the strait.

“Whenever America accepts Iran’s conditions, the Strait of Hormuz will certainly reopen,” IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebi said Saturday.

The Trump administration has nevertheless expressed optimism that an arrangement can restore commercial shipping.

Vice President JD Vance said Iran had indicated it would not impose tolls on vessels and that talks with Gulf states included provisions for safe passage and demining. “We don’t trust, we verify,” Vance said.

Trump has alternated between threatening dramatically expanded attacks and pursuing negotiations in recent weeks. Earlier this month, he held off on a planned major strike as Gulf governments pressed Washington to give diplomacy another opportunity.