October 13, 2026

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Israel is preparing new strikes on Iran and is waiting for a signal from the United States


Israel, according to media reports, is considering new strikes on Iran and is waiting for the US position. Tel Aviv says it is ready to “do it again.”

Israel is considering the possibility of a new military operation against Iran and is waiting for a political signal from the United States. There is no official confirmation yet that strikes are being prepared, but statements by Israeli leaders and media reports show that the pause in the conflict may be very short.

According to the Israeli public broadcaster Kan, which is cited by Greek and Israeli media, Israeli government and military circles are discussing their readiness to resume strikes on Iran if Washington gives political consent to this. A similar line is reported by the New York Post, citing a source familiar with the position of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

So far, neither the Israeli government nor the White House have officially confirmed the preparation of a new operation. But the overall background has deteriorated sharply: the United States and Iran have already exchanged blows, Donald Trump has declared that the truce has effectively ended, and Israel is publicly making it clear that it does not consider the campaign against Tehran over.

According to The GuardianIsraeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the army is ready to resume the campaign against Iran “for a third time, if necessary,” and “with even greater force.” Netanyahu at the same ceremony said Iran had been weakened by previous operations, but “the campaign is not over.”

“Ready to do it again”

According to the New York Post, a source familiar with the position of the Netanyahu government said that Israel is ready to participate in new strikes against Iran if the situation continues to escalate.

“We are prepared to do this again if necessary.”

This phrase is important not as an emotion, but as a political signal. Israel is showing that it does not intend to stand by if the United States continues military pressure on Iran. Moreover, Tel Aviv clearly wants to retain the right to independent military action, but without breaking coordination with Washington.

In other words, Israel is waiting not so much for military permission as for political cover. In a region where one missile can change the price of oil, the routes of tankers and the behavior of five capitals at once, this cover is almost more expensive than the missile itself.

Evidence of a possible conspiracy against Trump

A separate explosive element is reports of a new Iranian plan to assassinate Donald Trump. The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel recently provided the United States with intelligence that, according to Israeli assessments, pointed to a new Iranian plan to assassinate the American president.

Times of Israel writes that amid these concerns, Trump unexpectedly left Turkey after the NATO summit on the old Air Force One, rather than on a new plane donated by Qatar. However, according to the New York Times, the change of board was a precautionary measure and was not caused by a specific confirmed threat.

Tehran has long threatened retaliation for the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani. But turning the topic of a possible assassination attempt into a current argument for military escalation creates a very dangerous connection: a strike on Iran can now be presented not only as a response to Hormuz or a nuclear threat, but also as a defense of the US President. A convenient set of reasons when a politician wants to press the button again.

Why the US remains the key

Israel can carry out strikes on its own, but a major new operation against Iran will almost inevitably require coordination with Washington: intelligence, air corridors, refueling, cover, diplomatic protection, missile defense and US readiness to fend off retaliatory strikes on its bases.

This is why reporting on the US green light is so important. Without American consent, Israel risks finding itself in a situation where it launches a new wave of attacks, and Washington is forced to clean up the consequences for the entire Persian Gulf. With the consent of the United States, this is no longer an Israeli operation, but part of the general pressure on Iran.

Athens News previously wrote about a new series of American strikes on Iran after attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz area. The US launched new attacks on Iran: explosions in Bandar Abbas and Sirik. Against this background, the possible involvement of Israel in a new phase of the war sharply increases the risk of expanding the conflict.

Hormuz and the cost of escalation

The new operation against Iran will not remain just military news. It will hit shipping, insurance, oil, air routes and Gulf politics almost immediately.

The Guardian notes that markets were already reacting to a fresh wave of shocks and threats around Hormuz: Brent held above the levels of the previous week, and investors assessed the risk of disruption of supplies through the key oil corridor. Hormuz is home to one of the world’s most important oil flows, so even a limited escalation is quickly becoming a global economic problem.

For Greece this is not an abstraction. Athens News previously discussed that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz affects not only oil prices, but also Greek shipping, tanker insurance and fuel costs. Is Hormuz open or closed? US and Iran have given conflicting messages.

Netanyahu needs results

For Netanyahu, continuing pressure on Iran also makes internal sense. The Israeli leadership will try to show that the previous strikes were not a one-time attack, but part of a long campaign to weaken Tehran and its allies.

But this is where the main risk begins. The more Israel proves that “the campaign is not over,” the higher the likelihood that Iran will decide to respond not selectively, but systematically: against American bases, against shipping, through allied structures, with cyber attacks or attacks on regional infrastructure.

In this logic, each side feels forced to respond so as not to look weak. This is the favorite staircase of the Middle East: everyone climbs it with the air of strategists, and for some reason, at the bottom there are always civilians, markets, tankers and foreign airports.

Main conclusion

Israel, according to media reports, is considering a new operation against Iran and is waiting for the US position. There is no official confirmation yet, but statements by Israel Katz and Benjamin Netanyahu show that Tel Aviv does not consider the military campaign to be completed.

An additional factor was the WSJ’s information that Israel had provided the United States with information about a new alleged Iranian plan to assassinate Donald Trump. If this topic is built into the military agenda, the space for de-escalation will become even narrower.

The main question now is whether Washington will give a political signal for a new phase of strikes. If so, the US-Israel-Iran conflict could quickly expand beyond the exchange of limited attacks. And if Hormuz comes under threat again, it won’t just be the military headquarters that will pay. Markets, shipowners, airlines, drivers at gas stations and everyone else will pay, to whom the great powers will again explain that this is the price of security.



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