TOP STORIES
U.S. Sends More Troops, Warplanes To Middle East As Bulwark Against Iran | The Washington Post
The Pentagon will deploy a few thousand additional U.S. troops and more fighter jets to the Middle East, defense officials said Monday, as part of the Biden administration’s scramble to prevent the conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies from exploding into a regionwide war. The infusion of forces, which also include air-defense units, will add to the tens of thousands of American personnel already on high alert there, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The moves were ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after Israel last week used a series of airstrikes around Beirut to kill Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, and as U.S. officials anticipated that Israel could soon launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon.
Israeli special forces have been carrying out small, targeted raids into southern Lebanon, gathering intelligence and probing ahead of an expected broader ground incursion, people familiar with the matter said. The raids, which have included entering Hezbollah’s tunnels located along the border, have occurred recently as well as over the past months, part of the effort by Israel to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities along the border dividing Israel and Lebanon, the people said. The timing of any ground action could change, the people said. The Biden administration expects an imminent Israeli invasion of Lebanon, U.S. officials said.
In Address To Iran, Netanyahu Says Nowhere In Middle East Out Of Israel’s Reach | Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Iranians on Monday that there was nowhere in the Middle East beyond Israel's reach, three days after Israel's military killed the leader of Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Netanyahu, speaking in English in a 3-minute-long video released by his office in which he said he was addressing the Iranian people, blamed the Iranian government for plunging the Middle East "deeper into war" at the cost of its own people. "There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country," Netanyahu said. He said the Iranian government was bringing Iranians "closer to the abyss". Iran and Israel would be at peace when Iran is "finally free", which he said would "come a lot sooner than people think."
UANI IN THE NEWS
IDF Strikes Hodeidah Port In Yemen After Missile Attack | i24News
Israeli strikes against the Houthis are of much greater consequence than U.S. efforts in Yemen, reflecting a crucial difference between the two countries’ approaches to the Iranian threat, UANI Policy Director Jason Brodsky tells Laura Cellier of i24News.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Israelis are almost unanimous in their support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision not to coordinate the airstrike that targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with the Biden administration in advance of its commission, a new JNS poll conducted by Direct Polls show. JNS asked, “According to reports, Israel did not coordinate with the United States in advance of it carrying out its operation to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah. Do you think it was the right decision or the wrong decision? Eighty-three percent of respondents responded that it was the right decision. Nine percent felt it was the wrong decision. Eight percent did not know.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Oil Slumps 17% In Q3 As Middle East Conflict Offset By Slowing Demand | Reuters
Oil prices were little changed on Monday, but posted a 17% loss for the third quarter as fears that a widening conflict in the Middle East could curtail crude supply were overshadowed by waning global demand concerns. Brent crude futures for November delivery, which expired on Monday, fell 21 cents to settle at $71.77 a barrel. Meanwhile, the more actively traded Brent contract for December delivery gained 27 cents to $71.81. The global benchmark posted a 9% drop in September, its biggest monthly decline since November 2022, and after falling a third consecutive month, it slumped 17% in the third quarter, its biggest quarterly loss in a year.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Arrests Veteran Revolutionary-Turned-Critic | Iran International
Iranian security forces have arrested Abolfazl Ghadiani, a former revolutionary who has become an outspoken critic of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Ghadiani, who has been imprisoned several times since his volte-face following the nationwide protests in the aftermath of the 2009 disputed presidential election, was detained at his home on Monday, his son Ahmad announced on X. The young Ghadiani suggested that the arrest was a response to recent international pressures faced by the Iranian government, and that they were targeting domestic critics to deflect attention.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
U.S. Positions Military Forces In Middle East To Deter Iranian Attack | The Wall Street Journal
The Biden administration is moving military forces to deter an Iranian response following Israel’s stepped-up air campaign against Hezbollah and the start of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Those moves come after the U.S. warned Iran and the militant groups it supports against targeting American personnel or escalating the conflict. U.S. officials are specifically worried that Iran might mount a new attack on Israel as retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and its escalating military campaign in Lebanon. In response, the Defense Department is planning to bolster the number of Air Force F-15E, F-16 and A-10 warplanes it has deployed in the Middle East region, the Pentagon said Monday. The U.S. also has F-22s in the region, though their number will stay the same.
Israel Has Told US Ground Operations Against Hezbollah Are Limited, State Dept Says | Reuters
Israel has told the United States it is conducting limited ground operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon near the border with Israel, the State Department said on Monday. "This is what they have informed us that they are currently conducting, which are limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. Asked to confirm they were limited ground operations, he said: "That is our understanding."
U.S. And Allies Sound Alarm Over Their Adversaries’ Military Ties | The New York Times
Call it the Axis of Anger. It is ripped from the pages of the World Wars or the Cold War: a coalition of powers working to strengthen one another’s militaries to defeat America’s partners and, by extension, the United States. That is how the Biden administration characterizes Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, as those nations align more closely. U.S. officials have been sounding the alarm in speeches and closed-door talks around the world, most recently at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that ended over the weekend.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Rockets Fired At US Military Base In Likely Iran-Linked Attack | The Telegraph
A military base hosting US forces in Baghdad was hit by a rocket attack on Monday evening. At least two rockets were fired at the Victoria military base, which hosts American forces near Baghdad International Airport, according to the Reuters news agency, citing two Iraqi military officials. It was reported that the base had activated its air defences, intercepting the rockets. “All military personnel are accounted for and military forces were not targeted as had been reported,” a US defence official said.
Pentagon Sends Additional Troops to the Middle East | The New York Times
President Biden is sending a “few thousand” more troops to the Middle East, the Pentagon said on Monday, as tensions rise amid Israel’s intensified attacks against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Defense Department officials said the additional forces would bolster security for the 40,000 U.S. troops already in the region and help with the defense of Israel. A Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, said the deployment would include multiple fighter squadrons. Other officials said they would include F-15, F-16 and F-22 fighter jets as well as A-10 warplanes, adding substantially to American air capability.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senate Democrats running in competitive races in November are distancing themselves from an effort to block military aid to Israel as the vulnerable incumbents seek to hold on to their seats and defend the party’s slim majority in the upper chamber. A number of embattled Democrats are opposing a proposal led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to block the sale of more than $20 billion in weapons transfers to Israel. Sanders introduced the resolutions last week before Congress adjourned for recess, and the senator is expected to push for a vote when the Senate returns in November.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
Lebanese Troops Pull Back From Border As Israeli Ground Invasion Looms | Reuters
Lebanese troops pulled back from the border with Israel late on Monday as a ground invasion by Israel looked imminent, just days after Israel killed the head of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in an escalation of regional tensions. Israeli strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs, a security source said, with a Reuters reporter witnessing a flash of light and a series of loud blasts about an hour after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate areas near buildings it said contained Hezbollah infrastructure south of the Lebanese capital.
Israeli Forces Move Into Southern Lebanon As Middle East Conflict Expands | The Washington Post
Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon overnight Monday, the Israeli military said in a statement, an operation aimed at destroying Hezbollah infrastructure and pushing the group’s fighters away from villages near the border after nearly a year of drone and rocket strikes on northern Israel. The invasion, described by the Israel Defense Forces as “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids” backed by air forces and artillery, came after discussions over the weekend between U.S. and Israeli officials over the scope of the operation.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Israel Strikes Multiple Fronts, Including Long-Distance Attack On Yemen | The New York Times
Israel’s military on Sunday attacked its enemies in two countries and Gaza, including with a long-distance airstrike in Yemen amid escalating violence between Israel and Iranian-backed proxies across the Middle East, inching the combatants closer to an all-out regional war. Israel’s show of military force reached from Lebanon, where Israeli forces targeted Hezbollah, to the province of Hodeidah in Yemen, where its warplanes flew more than a thousand miles to attack power plants and shipping infrastructure.