In brief: Israel has warned Washington that Iran may use chemical weapons, but American and Gulf officials are divided over the intelligence, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. The allegations have emerged amid fears of renewed fighting and continuing US-Iran talks. Separately, speculation about a possible US nuclear strike has not amounted to an official announcement, as Trump previously ruled out using nuclear weapons.
Israel has warned the US that Iran may be considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, according to a New York Times (NYT) report published on Tuesday, Nov. 3, describing divisions among American officials.
The newspaper reported that some officials took the warning seriously, while others suspected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was seeking to draw Washington back into major combat operations.
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Officials in Gulf countries also questioned the assessments, with a regional official saying Israel had presented its conclusions without supporting evidence.
The report did not establish that Iran had decided to launch chemical attacks. Tehran has denied possessing chemical weapons.
Asked about the specific allegations, Netanyahu’s office told NYT that “Israel closely tracks every threat posed by the Iranian terror regime and is prepared to deal with it.”
The office did not address the detailed claims in its response.
US preparations continue alongside diplomacy
Washington has been preparing for possible renewed fighting while continuing indirect diplomatic contacts with Tehran.
The Associated Press (AP) reported before the Tuesday, Nov. 3 midterm elections that US officials had privately warned regional allies to prepare for potential American strikes and Iranian retaliation.
Two diplomats briefed on those warnings said Trump had not made a final decision. The concerns included possible retaliation against energy facilities and other critical infrastructure.
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However, Trump told the Financial Times (FT) on Tuesday that the US had no immediate plans to strike Iran, Reuters reported.
“We seem to be getting everything we want,” he said.
Trump had also said on Monday that a deal with Tehran remained possible. Iranian representatives had been holding discussions with Qatari mediators in Doha as Washington continued to press for restrictions preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Trump has publicly ruled out nuclear weapons
Claims circulating about a possible American nuclear strike require separate attribution.
Commentator Tucker Carlson alleged on Monday that Netanyahu was pressing Trump to use nuclear weapons against Iran. Carlson cited an unnamed source – his statement was not an announcement by the White House or US military.
Trump’s previously stated public position was that nuclear weapons were unnecessary.
“I wouldn’t use nuclear. We don’t have to,” Trump said in an Oct. 15 Newsmax interview, according to a Reuters report published the following day.
In that interview, Trump discussed possible attacks on Iranian nuclear infrastructure while ruling out using a nuclear bomb. He also said he was not considering deploying American ground troops.
He distinguished nuclear weapons from the conventional “mother of all bombs,” whose possible use he did not confirm. An attack on a nuclear facility would not, by itself, mean nuclear weapons had been used.
Midterm defeat increases political pressure
The competing warnings and diplomatic signals come after Democrats’ projected takeover of Congress, a major setback for Trump’s Republicans.
Before the election, a senior US official told Axios that Trump could become more inclined to approve a major operation against Iran if Republicans suffered heavy losses. That assessment described a possible political reaction, rather than a decision to launch an attack.
Trump subsequently acknowledged that the Iran war contributed to the Republican defeat, while defending his decision to begin it.
The conflict has also intensified the global energy crisis. ADNOC chief Sultan Al Jaber said on Monday that disruptions associated with the war had drained approximately one billion barrels from global oil inventories, with diesel stocks in some markets at their lowest seasonal levels in 35 years.
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