Israel has provided the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran is considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, The New York Times reported, citing American and regional officials.
According to the report, the intelligence alarmed some U.S. officials, while others expressed deep skepticism about its credibility. Some of the skeptics compared it to the flawed 2002 intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Some American and Gulf officials suggested that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be trying to draw President Donald Trump back into military action against Iran.
The report comes as talks between Washington and Tehran remain stalled. According to the Times, Trump said he would not order an attack before Tuesday's midterm elections. Israel Hayom reported that senior Israeli officials see a narrow window for strikes after the vote.
Israel's warnings about Iran's chemical capabilities are not new, and they are supported in part by U.S. government findings. The State Department has determined that Iran is not complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Tehran ratified in 1997. The U.S. intelligence community's 2024 annual threat assessment warned about Iran's chemical weapons program, including incapacitating agents. That same year, Israeli officials said they assessed with high confidence that Iran had supplied chemical incapacitating agents to proxies in Iraq and Syria.
Netanyahu has also raised the issue publicly. In a July interview with Newsmax, he said Iran "definitely" has chemical weapons. He described them as a further threat from the regime, even after U.S. and Israeli strikes had set back its nuclear program.
In December 2025, Israel Hayom reported on intelligence suggesting that Iran was racing to develop chemical and biological warheads for its ballistic missiles. That report emerged hours before Netanyahu met Trump in Florida.
Iran has consistently denied pursuing chemical weapons and points to the heavy casualties it suffered from Iraqi chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq War. According to Reuters, Tehran called a 2018 U.S. allegation on the issue groundless.
