United States forces in the Middle East are prepared to launch a major attack against Iran within 96 hours of receiving an order from President Donald Trump, two US officials told CNN on Sunday. The report, published on October 26, 2026, stresses that readiness is not the same as a decision: Trump has not made a final choice on whether to commit to major military action.
The distinction matters. Sufficient forces are now deployed in the region to carry out the potential attacks, according to the officials, and the scope of any new operation would go well beyond the limited strikes seen in recent months. One official described it plainly as a major effort, not a routine operation.
Key Takeaways
- US forces are prepared to launch a major attack against Iran within 96 hours of an order from President Donald Trump, according to two US officials cited by CNN.
- Trump has not made a final decision, and one source said the plans are ready but waiting for his approval, possibly until after the US midterm elections.
- US intelligence assessments cited in the reporting expect immediate retaliation against US personnel and facilities if the US or Israel attacks, even though Iran and the Houthis are seen as unlikely to strike first at this stage.
What the reporting says
The reporting draws a clear line between the strikes that have continued in recent months and the operation now said to be planned. Recent US action has often focused on radars, missile launchers and other Iranian assets that can be quickly rebuilt, a pattern one source described as maintaining the status quo. A new operation, by contrast, would be broader and harder to reverse.
“It will be a big effort,” one official told CNN. That assessment was echoed by other current and former officials familiar with internal military planning discussions. Some of them believe the question is when, not if, Trump will issue an order, and that it could come at any time before the end of the year, although most likely after the midterm elections.
That timing is important, and it is still only an assessment by officials, not an announced plan. No target list, date or final order has been made public, and the White House declined to comment on the reporting.
Israel’s role in the planning
Israel is also part of the picture, according to a source briefed on the matter. The source told CNN that Israel had been preparing for possibly striking Iran, as well as lobbying the United States to participate in the strikes. US officials, including Trump, told Israel to hold off on attacking, likely until after the midterm elections.
The plans are ready, waiting for Trump’s approval, could be after the midterms, the source said.
The plans are ready, waiting for Trump’s approval, could be after the midterms.
That single sentence captures the current state of play as described in the reporting: military preparation is advanced, political approval is not yet given, and the election calendar is shaping the timing of any decision.
Retaliation risk and embassy withdrawals
Two other sources told CNN that both Iran and the Houthis were taking the possibility of renewed US attacks very seriously, according to US intelligence. Any attack launched by the US, or by Israel, would trigger immediate retaliation against US personnel and facilities in the Middle East, the sources added.
That retaliation risk is one of the reasons the US is expected to withdraw more personnel from its embassies in the region. The concern is not abstract: recent days have already seen US warnings about Iran-linked assassination plots and evacuations of Middle East personnel, a sign of how seriously Washington is treating threats to its people in the region.
At the same time, one source familiar with US intelligence assessments said officials believe both Iran and the Houthis were unlikely to preemptively strike US or Israeli infrastructure at this stage. In other words, the immediate risk described in the reporting is retaliation after an attack, rather than a first strike before one.
The official response so far
The White House declined to comment on the CNN reporting. A senior Pentagon official told CNN that the department is a planning organisation, and that its job is to develop and execute military options ordered by the president. That statement neither confirms nor denies the specific 96-hour readiness claim, but it underlines that military planning, on its own, does not mean an attack has been ordered.
It is also worth separating what officials believe from what has been decided. Some officials think an order could come before the end of the year. Others emphasise that Trump has not made a final decision. Both points can be true at once: plans can be ready, forces can be in place, and the political decision can still be open.
The wider backdrop on October 26
The reporting arrived on a day already crowded with Middle East developments. Trump said late on Sunday, October 25, that there would be no US strike on Iran that day, while keeping open the possibility of future action and the possibility of an agreement with Tehran. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the management of the Strait of Hormuz would not return to its pre-war norms, and Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh.
Diplomacy has not stopped either. Senior officials from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey are heading to Tehran for talks on regional security under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, a reminder that military planning and diplomatic contact are running in parallel. Meanwhile, Israel is days away from its own election, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of attempts to disrupt the October 27 vote.
- US forces are said to be ready within 96 hours of a Trump order, according to two US officials.
- Any new operation would be a major effort, going beyond strikes on assets that can be quickly rebuilt.
- Trump has not made a final decision, and the timing most often mentioned is after the US midterm elections.
- Israel is reported to be preparing for a possible strike and lobbying Washington to join, but has been told to hold off.
- US intelligence assessments expect immediate retaliation against US personnel and facilities if an attack goes ahead.
What to Watch Next
What to watch next is whether Trump moves from planning to a decision, and whether the timing stays tied to the period after the midterm elections. Also worth watching is whether more US embassy personnel are withdrawn from the region, whether Israel holds off as Washington has reportedly asked, and whether Iran or the Houthis change their posture from taking the threat seriously to acting first. For now, the reporting describes a force ready to move within four days of an order, and a decision that has not yet been made.