US tells Gulf allies to brace for Iran strikes.

If you live in Kuwait or anywhere else in the Gulf, you’re one of the people this warning is about. US officials have quietly told several Middle Eastern countries and regional allies to get ready for the possibility of new military strikes on Iran, and for whatever Iran might do in response.

The warning came from two diplomats who were briefed on the matter. They spoke without using their names because they weren’t allowed to share these sensitive messages publicly. According to them, the message is simple: be ready, strikes could come after the 3 November US midterm elections.

This isn’t the first time Washington has signalled this. As we reported when the US told Gulf states to brace for possible Iran strikes just last week, the pressure has been building for some time now.

So what exactly did the US tell its allies?

The diplomats say Washington has told regional partners that any new strikes would not be a one-off. A fresh round of attacks could last several days. Officials in the region are now preparing for the chance that Iran, or groups allied with Tehran, could hit back and drag the conflict out longer.

US officials have also pushed allies to take precautions against possible Iranian attacks on energy facilities and other important infrastructure. For a region where oil and gas sites sit close to shipping lanes used every day, that’s not a small warning to ignore.

Importantly, the diplomats stressed that Trump has not made a final call on whether to actually launch new strikes. But he has said more than once that he’s considering military action once the elections are behind him. Readers who followed our earlier piece on Trump saying a strike was possible “tomorrow” will recognise this pattern of warnings that haven’t yet turned into action.

Is Iran still open to talks?

Despite all this, Iran says it hasn’t given up on diplomacy. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that Tehran is still working with mediators to review a proposal put forward last month. That proposal was meant to build a path back to a ceasefire. Trump, however, has already rejected it.

The United Arab Emirates has also weighed in, with its Foreign Ministry calling on all sides to show restraint and look for political solutions. The UAE wants to avoid a return to full-scale military operations in a conflict that first began in late February.

How did we get here? The military build-up so far

The US hasn’t actually struck Iran since early September. But the broader security picture in the region has grown more tense as the conflict has widened, something this site has tracked through pieces like Trump signalling more strikes were possible and the ongoing talk of a “Mother of All Bombs” option against Iran.

Late last month, the Pentagon sent the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and several amphibious assault ships carrying Marines from San Diego to the Persian Gulf. That move alone involved about 9,000 troops.

A US official said at the time the build-up could eventually mean more than 20,000 sailors and Marines in the region, backed by hundreds of aircraft. That kind of concentration of US naval power has only happened a handful of times over the past 20 years. Back in April, the US Navy sent three carrier strike groups to the Middle East at once, something it hadn’t done since 2003.

Trump has said the war will end when he decides it ends, and that the US wants any conclusion to the conflict to stop Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.

What this means if you live in Kuwait

For citizens and expats in Kuwait, none of this is just background noise from far away. Kuwait sits close to the Gulf waters where much of this tension plays out, and any disruption to shipping or energy facilities nearby could affect daily life here, from fuel supplies to general uncertainty. Our earlier report on the US security alert covering Kuwait and 11 other countries is worth revisiting if you missed it.

There’s also a real risk that tensions rise even before the US elections happen. Jonathan Schanzer, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, said Iran might not wait until after the vote if it believes a US attack is coming soon and sees a chance to act first.

You can keep up with how this story develops through our international news coverage, where we’ve been tracking the back-and-forth between Washington and Tehran for weeks.

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