US strikes on Iran may resume after midterms, experts say

Experts said the United States appears to be preparing to resume large-scale strikes against Iran, though they said the timing remains uncertain and further escalation is unlikely to end the conflict.

Suzanne Maloney, director of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution, said she expected possible strikes after the November 3 US midterm elections. She cited the movement of additional US military assets and troops to the Middle East, warnings to Americans in the region and a high alert status for Israeli forces.

President Donald Trump said Friday that “we may do another little Epic Fury” if Tehran does not make a deal, referring to the US operation against Iran launched in late February. He did not give a timetable.

Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said there had been signs that renewed US strikes could be coming, or that Washington was expecting strikes by Iran or Houthi allies in Yemen. He cited the planned deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt to the Middle East and another Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Campbell said the timing was “impossible to predict.” Maloney and Campbell both said renewed strikes were unlikely to produce a military solution.

The United States and Iran have settled into a pattern of strikes on commercial ships, with Washington seeking to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran trying to exert control over the Strait of Hormuz.