CENTCOM reportedly has plans for Iran strikes: Will Trump approve them?

The US military has drawn up options for renewed attacks on Iran, with Central Command (CENTCOM) preparing follow-up strikes that could be authorised by President Donald Trump, raising the prospect of another round of major fighting in a war approaching its eighth month.

The Washington-based outlet The Hill reported that CENTCOM, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, has plans ready for follow-up strikes if authorised by the White House. Military planners have prepared several options for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with a renewed campaign potentially targeting Iranian energy facilities, infrastructure and nuclear sites.

The New York Times reported that the US and Israel have drawn up joint plans for an attack on Iran after the November 3 US midterm elections. These reports come alongside US warnings about alleged Iranian threats to American personnel overseas.

An intelligence memo sent on Friday by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton to Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Iran had 'substantially increased efforts to target US personnel', with lethal plots reaching 'advanced stages' in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The Department of State has ordered staffing reductions at several regional embassies amid these warnings. The publicly reported memo did not identify specific targets or establish when any alleged attacks might occur.

Military deployments and public statements

President Donald Trump has added to the uncertainty surrounding the situation. At a rally on Friday, he said Washington 'may do another little Epic Fury', referring to the codename of the US-Israeli military operation against Iran that began on February 28.

On Saturday, he declined to disclose the timing of any possible attack while suggesting one could come as early as Sunday. The timing is politically sensitive, with Trump facing pressure to avoid renewed escalation before the US midterm elections.

Meanwhile, the US is deploying a third aircraft carrier strike group, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, along with roughly 10,000 additional soldiers and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East by the end of November.

Iran's response and military doctrine shift

Tehran has combined calls for further negotiations with warnings that renewed US attacks would bring a wider response. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused Washington of derailing negotiations but said efforts to reach an agreement should continue.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will miss the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi, according to the Iranian Embassy in India, which cited 'unforeseen circumstances' without elaborating.

On Sunday, Iran’s army said it had shot down a US-developed LUCAS drone over the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. The Reuters news agency has reported, quoting Iranian security officials, that Tehran has drawn up plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf in the event of a resumption of US and Israeli attacks.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Hossein Mohebi announced a shift towards an 'offensive' military doctrine, stating: 'Our defence doctrine was previously defensive; we used to say that if a country attacks us, we will respond. Now we say that if a country attacks us, we will both respond and launch an offensive'.

The warning raises the prospect of a confrontation spreading further across the region, with energy infrastructure and countries aligned with Washington potentially exposed.

Risk of escalation and regional impact

Iran is also drawing up its own target lists to include energy infrastructure and US-aligned states, according to Julie Norman of Chatham House. She noted that both parties are very prepared for another round of escalation and projecting preparedness to each other.

October has become the worst month for attacks on ships since the war began in February, with more than 120 attacks reported so far. Iranian claims of seven oil tankers catching fire or sustaining damage in and around the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week further heighten tensions.

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar, said recent developments pointed towards renewed fighting rather than a diplomatic breakthrough. He pointed to Hegseth’s recent visit to Israel, and Washington’s reported withdrawal of personnel from regional diplomatic and military sites.

Elmasry added that 'all of that would suggest that the US and Israel are planning [another round of attacks] on Iran, either soon or very soon'. He warned that 'one of the fears is this next round of fighting could actually be more dangerous, more catastrophic than the previous round'.

Norman added that while the US president may be eyeing up a strike on Iran after the midterms, 'the big question for Trump from military advisers is – what would a further round of escalation bring that the other rounds didn't? What would these strategies do to force Iran to the negotiating table? And I don't think there has been a clear answer to that'.