Pentagon ordered preparations for possible Iran strikes, officials say

The Pentagon told U.S. Central Command several days ago to finish preparations for possible renewed major strikes on Iran, U.S. officials told Axios on Wednesday, October 7. Central Command is the U.S. military command for the Middle East. The order set no date, and President Donald Trump has not decided to launch strikes.

The United States and Iran are already at war. It began on February 28, 2026, with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, and ceasefires in April and June did not last.

The June deal, signed in Islamabad, was written to stop the fighting, lift a U.S. naval blockade and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The order is to prepare to resume major strikes. Axios said Qatar is still waiting for Iran's reply to a U.S. counterproposal that seeks nuclear concessions.

A Pentagon official told Axios, "The Department's job is to develop and present military options to the President."

A White House official told Axios, "President Trump holds all the cards and will do whatever is best for the United States."

The decision is still open

The Atlantic reported earlier Wednesday that Trump might order another strike before the November 3 midterms, and that even advocates of limited strikes did not think those strikes would, on their own, restore safe travel through the strait or lower fuel prices by Election Day.

NBC News, citing a U.S. official and another person familiar with the talks, reported the same evening that Trump and his national security team had discussed large-scale operations in the coming weeks, including strikes before the vote.

An Israeli official told Axios the chance before the elections was "not high," though not ruled out, and that it would rise significantly after the U.S. midterms. Axios also reported a possibility of strikes before Israel's election on October 27, a week before the November 3 vote. It said a new round of fighting in the next three or four weeks could affect the U.S. vote partly through oil prices.

At a campaign rally in San Antonio late Wednesday, Trump spoke about the deal with Iran that his envoy is still working. "I think the deal isn't really something that I want to do, but they're willing to offer us anything to stop," he said. Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, has been working on that deal, and Trump said he was "doing very well."

Speaking to reporters as he left Washington for that rally, he said of the war, "It will be over very quickly, and when it does, oil prices will come tumbling down."

The oil this would meet

U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios they expect any renewed campaign to hit Iranian energy sites.

At about 1:42 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, Brent crude, the main global oil price, was at $102.47 a barrel, up 2.3% from its previous settlement. WTI, the main U.S. oil price, was at $90.10, up 2.1%. CNBC attributed the rise to Middle East hostilities and the chance of a further escalation.

Brent averaged $114 a barrel in September, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday. The agency still expects prices to generally fall from their early October average.

BUSO, the fund that holds near-term futures on WTI rather than Brent, closed Wednesday's regular session at $143.91, down 0.7%. In trading after the close, at 8 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, the midpoint was only a fraction of a percent above that close. The overnight rise in crude is what the fund prices when U.S. trading resumes on Thursday.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on Sunday that Iran will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met. "Until our seven conditions based on the Islamabad memorandum of understanding are realised, the Strait of Hormuz will not be opened," he said.

U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that an Iranian claim the strait is closed was false. Traffic is flowing, it said, "including 20 million barrels of crude oil," and "the United States and regional partners clearly control the strait."

A count of tankers put Middle East crude exports at 18.5 million barrels a day on October 1, averaged over seven days, above levels before the war. The figure includes the strait and other routes out of the region.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that Iran was prepared to respond if the United States again chose military action. In late September he offered a plan to reopen the strait within seven days if Washington accepted Iran's conditions.

Member governments still hold about 1.1 billion barrels of emergency oil, the International Energy Agency said on Wednesday, including more than 200 million barrels of diesel. About 100 million barrels pledged in March have not yet reached the market, and members backed a faster release of those barrels, diesel first where they can. That is the oil governments can release if strikes hit Iranian energy sites.

Trump has not decided to order the strikes. U.S. and Israeli sources told Axios they expect a yes to mean bombs on Iranian energy sites, other infrastructure and nuclear targets, most likely with the two militaries acting together.