WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States is considering launching strikes on Iran as soon as tomorrow, while also saying Tehran could still avoid further military action by reaching an agreement, Anadolu Agency reported. Asked how far along he was in considering an attack, Trump said: "We're thinking about doing it, and maybe tomorrow." He added: "Do you really think I'm going to tell you if I'm going to do it?"
Source: Anadolu Agency via Life News Agency, Oct 24, 2026
Middle East Eye reported the same remarks under the headline that Trump could strike Iran tomorrow, or strike a "big, beautiful" deal. Trump said Iran wanted to make a deal, "but the problem is, will they hold the deal?" and repeated that his goal was to stop Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon. "I've got to make it permanent," he said. "I may have to finish it off, or maybe they'll make a deal. But I'm not sure. Either way, we win," Anadolu reported. Al Jazeera's live coverage also carried the remarks on Saturday, saying Trump was considering a possible attack as soon as Sunday or a major deal with Tehran. No attack order or final decision has been announced.
Source: Middle East Eye, Oct 24, 2026
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Trump had been briefed on Pentagon options ranging from strikes on nuclear facilities and infrastructure, including bridges, to operations targeting Iranian-controlled islands, with no final decision announced, according to the Anadolu account. US warships in the Middle East were preparing to launch new attacks if ordered, the Journal reported; two US aircraft carrier strike groups are operating in the region, a third is approaching from the Pacific, and an amphibious assault ship carrying Marines is being deployed.
Source: Anadolu Agency via Life News Agency, Oct 24, 2026
Iran, meanwhile, has offered through Pakistan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if Washington lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, said at a seminar in Islamabad, according to the Associated Press account carried by Daily Inference. Moghadam said Tehran remained open to negotiations under the interim agreement brokered in June, and said Trump had rejected the proposal by insisting the blockade would continue — an Iranian account of the US position that Washington has not independently confirmed. TASS had earlier reported the same offer, citing sources who spoke to Al Arabiya.
Source: Associated Press via Daily Inference, Oct 24, 2026
Tehran has also put its forces on alert. Iran's Army Commander, Brigadier General Ali Jahanshahi, ordered the military to maintain the highest level of combat readiness amid the possibility of a new US attack, according to reports by Anadolu Agency and the Iranian news agency Tasnim cited by Jawawa. "Under wartime conditions, any negligence or carelessness can have grave consequences," Jahanshahi said, according to Tasnim. The remarks came a day after Trump told a rally in Florida that the US "may do another little Epic Fury", referring to the US-Israeli campaign against Iran that began on February 28, and after US envoy Tom Barrack said a strike this weekend was possible. For lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers in the Gulf, and for oil, flight and remittance costs back home, whether Sunday brings a strike or a deal is a direct kitchen-table concern.