The US military is sending an additional Patriot missile system to Israel to beef up the country’s air defenses as part of preparations for a potential US-Israeli attack on Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday night.
It’s estimated that the US has used about 1,700 Patriot missile interceptors, or about two-thirds of its total stockpile, in Iran since it was launched on February 28, and the reported deployment to Israel comes as the US has been holding up a Patriot missile shipment to Ukraine.
The Journal report said that the US has also warned its Gulf Arab allies to prepare for a short but intense renewed bombing campaign against Iran, though Iranian officials have warned that they will significantly escalate retaliatory strikes across the region in the face of any renewed US or Israeli attacks, meaning the US will have little control on the timeline.
The reported warning to the Gulf states comes as senior Gulf Arab officials appear desperate to avoid a re-escalation of the war as they have been engaging with Iranian officials. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman visited Tehran on Monday, and the following day, Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Moscow.
Sources told the Journal that President Trump has made a final decision on going ahead with an attack on Iran but was leaning toward launching strikes after the November 3 US midterm elections. Other preparations have included moving troops around the region, loading aircraft with bombs, and deploying additional warships.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was eager to attack Iran ahead of Tuesday’s Israeli elections, and now that his party has come out on top but is short of a majority needed to form a government, he may have even more of a motive to re-escalate the war than before.
