The US Army has prepared options to resume broad combat operations against Iran, including an intensive campaign lasting about three days, while President Donald Trump continues to hesitate to renew the war, according to US officials quoted by the American newspaper The New York Times.
Trump said on Thursday that he would not attack Iran before the US midterm elections in November, noting that the two countries were holding “productive discussions.”
The plans, prepared under Trump's direction, focus on Iran's missile and drone arsenal, much of which the Revolutionary Guard has rebuilt since the first phase of the war. Targets may include energy facilities and Guard headquarters.
Senior officials, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, discussed the options at a meeting at Camp David. During the past months, Trump rejected five proposals to carry out large-scale operations against Iran or the Houthis it supports in Yemen.
Negotiations continue through mediators, with disagreement over the arrangement for discussing the nuclear file. Washington wants to agree on it first, while Tehran insists on postponing it until the end of the discussions.
Since September, Iran has attacked at least 13 ships, according to a British naval monitoring group, while intelligence reports put the number at closer to 20. These attacks did not require a major American response.
American leaders fear that Iranian tactics will improve, which will necessitate the use of more interceptor missiles to protect regional bases and facilities. According to those familiar with the intelligence information, satellite images from Chinese companies helped Iran better target American bases.
The aircraft carrier "Theodore Roosevelt" is expected to arrive to join two other carriers, in what is the first gathering of three American carriers in the Middle East since 2003. By the end of October, the naval buildup is expected to include more than 20,000 sailors and Marines, along with hundreds of aircraft, before the aircraft carrier "George Washington" returns to its base in Japan, and is replaced by "Theodore Roosevelt."
Despite the preparations, the decision to attack remains undecided. Some officials believe that economic pressure takes time to extract Iranian concessions, while others support a short campaign that will increase pressure on Tehran and weaken its ability to control the Strait of Hormuz. Officials also fear that stocks of defensive weapons will be depleted.
In a wave of anti-Somali and anti-immigrant rhetoric, US President Donald Trump, yesterday, Thursday, described Americans of Somali origin as a threat to the state of Minnesota, hours after he described the Muslim candidate for the Senate, Abdul Sayed, as an extremist radical, according to Reuters.
Trump wrote on his platform, “Truth Social,”: “The once great state of Minnesota is under the control of Somali immigrants.” There is violence, murders and chaos all over the state. “Minnesotans should fight this.”
Trump urged authorities in Minnesota to request federal intervention.
Civil rights advocates criticize the Republican president's rhetoric toward minorities and immigrants, including his description of Somalis in the past as "trash."
Trump had previously referred repeatedly to a scandal that occurred in Minnesota dating back to 2020, in which dozens of people were accused of embezzling millions of dollars from a federally funded state child nutrition program. A number of the defendants in that case were Somali Americans.
In May, Amy Book, a non-Somali immigrant who led the non-profit organization implicated in the scandal, was sentenced to 41 years in prison after being convicted last year of being the mastermind of the scheme.
The president exploited this fraud issue as part of his justification for targeting the Democratic-led state, by launching an intense campaign earlier this year to arrest and deport immigrants, and taking measures aimed at restricting social services programs in the state.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in response to Trump’s post: “The Somalis in Minnesota are our neighbors. They are part of Minnesota. “The Minnesota I know and love is much bigger than this intolerance.”
In another post late on Wednesday, Trump described Abdul Sayed, a Muslim and Democratic Party candidate for the US Senate in Michigan, as an “extremist radical” and a “terrorist sympathiser,” while at the same time expressing his support for Republican candidate Mike Rogers.
Democrats said Trump's speech aims to distract voters from the repercussions of his policies as the midterm elections approach in November.
Al-Sayed, who has been subjected to anti-Muslim attacks from other Republicans, commented on Thursday: “He believes he can use my name and religion to distract us from the suffering his policies cause us at gas stations, in grocery stores, and at the doctor’s office.”
The Michigan Democratic Party and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer described Trump's speech as desperate and racist.
Trump has previously targeted minorities in his speeches, and spread false claims that immigrants from Haiti in one Ohio town eat pets.
US President Donald Trump said that those who do not adhere to adopting the term “superior intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” will be treated as “enemies,” without clarifying the nature of the consequences resulting from that.
Trump wrote on his platform, Truth Social, “The White House considers anyone who uses the term (artificial intelligence) instead of the new, more acceptable and accurate term (superintelligence), an enemy!”
Trump proposed this name during a speech he delivered before the United Nations General Assembly last month, saying that the new term “sounds much better.”
In late September, the president signed an executive order mandating the use of the term “super intelligence” in US government institutions.
While the new name cannot be imposed on the private sector, some companies have already begun to adopt it, especially Mark Zuckerberg’s “Meta” group.
Elon Musk also uses the new term in his posts on the “X” platform.
The controversy over the naming is seen as having a political nature, as the US President, known for his strong defense of this technology, seeks to give it a positive image in light of growing concerns about the security of artificial intelligence systems and mounting criticism related to the expansion of data centers within the United States.
