In brief
As U.S. midterm elections begin on Tuesday, Iran’s armed forces chief and security council secretary have warned of immediate retaliation for any threat from the U.S. and Israel, while Tehran’s seven‑condition plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was shortened to two days in good faith. President Trump has said he is not in a hurry to act but is weighing diplomatic, military, or economic options, with U.S. allies and Israeli leaders divided over the best approach.
With U.S. midterm elections set to begin on Tuesday, Tehran’s Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Ali Abdollahi, warned that Iran’s forces would respond immediately to any threat from the United States or Israel, without geographical limits. The warning followed remarks by the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, who said the U.S. response to Iran’s demands was not convincing and urged the U.S. to address Iran’s seven conditions to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced Tehran had reduced the timeframe for implementation of the seven‑day plan to two days “in good faith.” The plan, foreshadowed earlier in September, calls for Iranian hostilities to cease within a week if its conditions were met.
President Donald Trump, speaking in a phone interview with Axios, said he was “in no rush” to resume military action against Iran, adding that the United States had already “crippled them financially.” Trump later wrote on Truth Social that a settlement could happen soon and that Iran wanted one. Axios reported that Trump was weighing three possible courses: a diplomatic deal, renewed military action, or sustaining maximum economic pressure.
White House officials and allies show divergent views. Vice President J.D. Vance and envoy Steve Witkoff favor diplomacy, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth push for renewed military operations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to the report, favor maintaining the current “no war, no deal” status quo.
The Wall Street Journal noted that Trump might lean toward launching a large‑scale attack on Iran after the midterm elections, with the U.S. potentially targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. No official U.S. statement has confirmed such an action, and no details about the timing have been released.
