President of United States (US) Donald Trump has said that the US may launch another military operation against Iran as Washington weighs whether to end the war quickly or allow the conflict to gradually wind down, while US intelligence chief Jay Clayton has warned that Tehran has substantially increased efforts to target American personnel in the Middle East and other countries.
Trump said that the US can end the war quickly but questioned whether Washington should pursue an immediate conclusion or let the conflict weaken over time.
“We could end it very quickly,” Trump told reporters. “Do we want to finish it or let it wither, is the question”.
The remarks come as the war approaches its eight-month mark and rising fuel prices weigh on the US midterm elections.
Meanwhile, Clayton warned in a memo to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Iran had stepped up efforts to target American personnel, with plots reaching advanced stages in the Middle East and other countries.
“We have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel,” a US official said, citing the memo.
The one-page, unclassified memo, dated October 23, did not identify specific targets, countries outside the Middle East or the nature of the plots.
On the military front, Iran’s ground forces commander Ali Jahanshahi ordered unit commanders to maintain the highest level of combat readiness, Iranian state media reported through broadcaster IRIB.
Jahanshahi warned that negligence during wartime could “entail heavy costs”. He said that the forces were maintaining readiness through continuous training, assessments of operational capabilities and coordination between units.
Major-General Ali Abdollahi, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff and commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, also said that Iranian forces would not allow US military vessels to enter the Gulf “under any circumstances”.
