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Day 237 of the WarThursday, October 22, 2026

Day 237 — NYT Says U.S. and Israeli Militaries Have Prepared Plans for New Strikes on Iran After the Midterms; IRGC Navy Claims It Hit Four Ships; Netanyahu Says Overthrow Is the Only Solution

Iran Revolution 26 Editorial Desk
Washington · Israel · Iraq airspace · Middle East basesPersian Gulf · Strait of Hormuz · Dammam · JeddahTehran · Strait of HormuzIsrael · South Carolina · IstanbulIran · European Union · Poland

SNSC Secretary Mohsen Rezaei Claims in a Drop Site Interview That Iranian Forces Have Targeted an Average of Five Vessels a Night Near Hormuz Over the Past Two to Three Months, per Iran International; Babak Taghvaee Says Iranian State Media Unveiled an Underground Army Drone Plant With Hundreds of Arash-2 Drones

Iran
  • Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, claimed to Drop Site that 'in the past two or three months, we have targeted an average of five vessels belonging to these smugglers every night' near Hormuz, adding: 'Then Trump says the Strait of Hormuz is open,' per Iran International.source
  • Babak Taghvaee (The Crisis Watch) said Iranian state media unveiled a newly established underground drone plant of the Army Ground Force, with footage of hundreds of recently made Arash-2 one-way attack drones that he said were reportedly meant for Gulf states' military sites in an anticipated new phase of war in November.source

The New York Times, Citing Unnamed U.S. Officials, Says U.S. and Israeli Militaries Have Prepared Plans for New Strikes on Iran After the U.S. Midterms, With Trump's Final Decision Unclear and Doubts About Effectiveness; CBS News Says the U.S. Military Is Quietly Reducing Its Presence at Middle East Bases, as CENTCOM Says It Does Not Comment on Such Moves

US / Coalition
  • The New York Times, citing unnamed U.S. officials and people familiar, said U.S. and Israeli militaries have prepared plans for new strikes on Iran after the U.S. midterm elections, but Trump's final decision is unclear and there are doubts about their effectiveness, per Vahid Online.source
  • The NYT said planning is for a short but intense operation, that the two militaries are rehearsing attack maneuvers with increased drills and flights over Iraq, and that Hegseth discussed new strikes with Netanyahu this week, per Vahid Online.source
  • Per the NYT, possible targets are energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities and missile and drone arsenals, but some officials said refineries and oil infrastructure would not be hit to avoid further fuel-price rises; some U.S. planners think a three-day intense operation could inflict enough economic damage to change Tehran's position.source
  • CBS News, citing a U.S. official and a senior U.S. military official, said the military is quietly reducing its presence at Middle East bases after continuing Houthi threats and direct threats from Iran, as NBC first reported; CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said it does not comment on such moves, per BBC Persian.source

IRGC Navy Claims It Simultaneously Struck Four 'Violating' Ships in the Persian Gulf and Says Three More Hit Mines Near Hormuz, Warning Its Countermeasures Will Extend to Bases in the Region if This Continues; Saudi Arabia's Civil Aviation Authority Says Dammam's King Fahd Airport Was Attacked, Killing Two, as IRGC-Affiliated Fars Makes an Unverified Claim of a Yemeni Attack on Jeddah Airport; CENTCOM Says Its Blockade Has Helped Prevent at Least $25 Billion in Iranian Crude Exports in 100 Days

Gulf & Naval
  • The IRGC Navy claimed it simultaneously struck four 'violating' ships transferring oil ship-to-ship in the north-central Persian Gulf, said three more hit mines in western Hormuz on Wednesday night and caught fire, and warned that if this continues, countermeasures will extend to 'aggressor bases in the region,' per Iran International.source
  • Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said an attack on Dammam's King Fahd International Airport on Wednesday evening killed two people, a Saudi and an Indian national, and injured eight, without specifying the type; IRGC-affiliated Fars, citing 'some Arab sources,' claimed a Yemeni attack halted Jeddah airport, which is unverified.source
  • CENTCOM said that in the 100 days since its forces resumed the 'steel wall' naval blockade, it has helped prevent Iran from exporting at least $25 billion of crude, with no seaborne exports or imports except humanitarian aid U.S. forces allowed; it said USS George Washington is supporting enforcement.source

Netanyahu Says the Overthrow of the 'Fanatical Regime' Is the Only Conceivable Solution and Calls the Financial Times Report That Trump Opposed a Broad Israeli Attack on Iran 'Incorrect and Biased'; Trump Claims the U.S. Destroyed Iran's Enrichment Capability; Rubio, per LiveIranNews, Calls the Islamic Republic the Root of the Region's Crises; Iran International Says Seven Foreign Ministers Will Meet in Istanbul

Global
  • In an Israel Channel 7 interview, Netanyahu likened the Islamic Republic to Nazis and 'neo-Nazis' and said 'the only conceivable solution here, without doubt, is the overthrow of this fanatical regime'; he also called 'incorrect and biased' the Financial Times report that Trump opposed a broad Israeli attack on Iran, per Vahid Online.source
  • Trump claimed in a South Carolina speech that the U.S. has destroyed Iran's nuclear enrichment capability and defeated it militarily and financially, saying 'we could leave there right now' but want the situation to last, calling rising oil prices 'a very small price to pay' and Hormuz the 'Trump Strait,' per Iran International.source
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Islamic Republic and the Shia extremist Islamists ruling Iran the main root of the region's wars and crises, saying true peace in the Middle East cannot be achieved until this fundamental problem is resolved, per LiveIranNews.source
  • Iran International said the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Germany and France will meet in Istanbul on Friday, with Palestine, the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, Yemen and efforts to end the Russia–Ukraine war announced as the main topics.source

RadioFarda Says the ICC, Under U.S. Sanctions, Won the EU's 2026 Sakharov Prize, for Which Iranian Twins Sentenced Over the Dey 1404 Protests Were Among the Nominees; Masih Alinejad Says a Third Woman Blinded in Both Eyes by the Islamic Republic Is Joining Her Delegation in Poland

Global
  • RadioFarda said the International Criminal Court, sanctioned by the U.S. over its arrest warrant for Netanyahu, won the EU's 2026 Sakharov Prize; Iranian twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, 21, among this year's nominees, were sentenced to death and 25 years in prison respectively over the Dey 1404 protests.source
  • Masih Alinejad said a third woman blinded in both eyes by the Islamic Republic, shot in the face with a pellet gun by the IRGC in Sanandaj during the 2022 uprising, will join her delegation in Poland, which she said visited Auschwitz the day before.source

Sources