Iran's working assumption is that the United States will strike, and its leadership is debating whether to attack first, the Jerusalem Post's Amichai Stein reported, citing two regional diplomats.
According to the report, the question now before Iran's top leadership is whether to wait for an American move or to try to preempt it.
The report follows a public warning from Iran's military. On Wednesday, army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammad Akrami-Nia told the state news agency IRNA that Iran was ready to hit first. "Should circumstances require it, we will conduct pre-emptive operations," he said, according to Euronews. About a week earlier, he told Iran's Al-Alam outlet that the army could strike preemptively if it concluded US forces in the region were preparing an attack, Shafaq News reported.
The idea has been gaining ground in Tehran for weeks. Iran International reported in early September that calls for preemptive strikes on US forces were growing after renewed American attacks. It noted at the time that Iran's leadership had not formally announced a change in doctrine.
Washington, for its part, is keeping its options open. The White House has asked the Pentagon to prepare strike options against Iranian targets that could be used before the November midterm elections, according to a report in The Atlantic cited by the financial wire Newsquawk. The report said no date had been set and President Donald Trump had made no final decision. Trump said Tuesday that the US still has to finish the job with Iran and that the only question is whether it does so the easy way or the hard way.
Diplomacy has not been abandoned. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said Tehran has laid out its conditions for ending the war and will deliver its response to US proposals through mediators. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Wednesday that his government is negotiating while fighting on every front.
Vice President JD Vance confirmed that Washington has held talks with Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. He told Reuters it is not clear how Iran makes its decisions, raising doubts about how much authority the two men hold.
The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
