Israeli officials have shared intelligence with the US over the past two weeks
claiming Iran is accelerating chemical-weapons development and considering
missile or other delivery, and that the chemical threat is more urgent than
Tehran’s nuclear program. US intelligence broadly assesses Iran is developing
chemical capabilities but disagrees sharply on whether Iran’s leadership would
use them; weapons experts say loading agents onto ballistic missiles is feasible
but effective dispersal is technically challenging; Iran denies having chemical
weapons. Some US officials view Israel’s warnings as pressure to push the US
toward renewed large-scale military action, and Gulf states have expressed
skepticism; other US officials say the threat merits serious attention. CENTCOM
has drafted plans to strike Iran as early as Wednesday after the US midterm
elections and expects to deploy three carrier strike groups to the Middle East,
though the operational window may be short and one carrier is due back in port
in early November. US intelligence assesses Iran’s threat to US interests in the
region is at its highest level since the February outbreak of war, citing
espionage, cyberattacks and AI-enabled voice-phishing.
