The latest American strikes on Iranian territory have brought Washington's confrontation with Tehran back into focus just as the United States heads to the polls for its November 3 midterm elections. While President Donald Trump continues to signal an interest in diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly pressing for renewed military action, exposing differences between the two allies over the timing and direction of the next phase of the conflict. On November 2, US forces carried out limited strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island, strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz.
American officials described the operation as defensive, saying it followed Iranian attempts to target US aircraft. Iranian state media reported explosions on the island, although the full extent of the damage remained unclear. Officials emphasised that the strikes did not constitute the resumption of a large-scale military campaign.
The incident unfolded amid diplomatic uncertainty. According to Axios, Netanyahu urged Trump during a recent telephone conversation to resume major strikes immediately after the midterm elections. Trump, however, has preferred to give negotiations more time, telling Axios on November 2 that he was in no rush to decide whether to resume fighting.
Adding to the tensions, American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has alleged that Washington could be considering a nuclear attack against Iran's deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain facility. Carlson suggested that Netanyahu was pressing the administration towards such an operation, but provided no independently verifiable evidence that a nuclear strike was being prepared or authorised. The competing reports raise two distinct questions: whether Israel can influence Washington's decision to return to major combat operations, and whether the increasingly public discussion of nuclear escalation poses a danger in itself.
Speaking to AzerNEWS, US-based political analyst Frank Musmar offered an assessment from a Republican perspective, arguing that the reported disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu do not necessarily indicate a deeper strategic rupture: “They are real, but not a rupture. This is the classic Trump- Netanyahu pattern we have seen since 2017. According to Wall Street Journal reporting this past weekend, Netanyahu urged Trump in a Saturday phone call to authorize another round of major operations against Iran right after the November 3 midterms.
Trump confirmed the call - "Just had a very good talk with him" - but did not commit to that timetable. The disagreement is about sequencing, not the objective. Sources familiar with the call described it as "tough" on the Israeli side and "direct" on the American side.
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