Trump discusses renewed Iran strikes, with a November 9 new moon in view

US President Donald Trump met his national security team at the White House to talk through the option of renewing military strikes on Iran, according to senior US officials quoted by Fox News. The Times of Israel, relaying the Fox News account, reported that the officials described November 9 as offering preferred conditions for the US military to restart operations, because that date marks the beginning of a new moon over the Middle East and with it the cover of darkness.

Haaretz, in a report carried with Reuters, said the discussion took place on Thursday and framed it as talks on resuming the war with Iran, citing confirmation from senior officials as reported by Fox News. The Hebrew-language outlet News.co.il added that no formal decision on a strike had been made and that deliberations at the White House were still under way.

What the officials are said to have discussed

All of the reports trace back to a single original account: Fox News, quoting unnamed senior officials. None of the Israeli outlets cited here say they confirmed the meeting independently. The core of that account is that Mr Trump and his advisers considered whether to resume military action against Iran, and that November 9 was identified as a date when conditions would favour such action.

The reports differ slightly on who was in the room. The Times of Israel and Haaretz refer to the president's national security team or national security advisors. News.co.il describes a wider gathering that also included the senior military leadership. The other reports do not mention military commanders specifically.

Why the new moon matters

A new moon is the phase of the lunar cycle when the moon is not visible from Earth, leaving nights at their darkest. Military planners have long valued such conditions because aircraft and ground forces are harder to see. According to the officials quoted in the Fox News report, that is why November 9 was singled out. The reports do not say whether the date is a firm target or simply the earliest point in a window under consideration; Haaretz's headline describes it as a possibility "as soon as" that date.

What Trump has said in public

The Jerusalem Post reported that Mr Trump left open the possibility of new strikes on Iran, headlining his remark: "You'll know soon enough." The newspaper's report accompanied a photograph of the president speaking in the Oval Office on November 5. The material available to us does not include the full context of the question he was answering.

The wider picture

The language used in the reports, renewing strikes and resuming the war, indicates that this would not be the first round of US military action against Iran. The reports themselves, however, do not describe that earlier fighting, when it ended, or on what terms. For readers following the story from outside the region, the key point is that what has been reported is a deliberation, not an order.

On the same day, a separate entry on the Times of Israel liveblog noted that a tanker had reported a blast near Khasab in Oman while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, citing a British maritime agency. The reports do not link that incident to the White House discussions, and we draw no connection between them.

What the reports do not say

No White House or Pentagon statement confirming or denying the Fox News account appears in the material, and there is no reported response from Iran. The officials quoted are unnamed, and the reports give no detail on what targets or objectives were considered, which forces would be involved, or whether Israel was consulted. News.co.il states that no decision has been taken; none of the reports indicates when one might be.