Israel Reportedly Warns U.S. and Gulf States of Iranian Chemical Weapons Threat

Israel reportedly warned American and some Gulf officials that Iran was considering using chemical weapons against its adversaries, according to reports published on November 3. The accounts described intelligence shared by Israeli officials, alongside disagreements among American officials and questions from Gulf counterparts about the evidence and Iran's intentions. In discussions over the preceding two weeks, Israeli officials reportedly presented the chemical threat as more urgent than Iran's nuclear ambitions. Their assessment was that Iran was advancing technology that could deliver chemical weapons by missile or enable them to be smuggled into another country. The reported warnings concerned potential use, rather than a confirmed chemical attack. Some American officials took the intelligence seriously amid wider warnings about Iranian threats to American interests. Others suspected that Israel was seeking to encourage renewed large-scale combat. Gulf officials reportedly questioned whether Iran had developed plans to use such weapons, and one regional official said supporting evidence had not been shared. These differing interpretations did not establish that an attack had been ordered or was imminent. “Israel closely monitors every threat posed by the Iranian terrorist regime and is prepared to confront it,” a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister's office said in response to the reporting. The Israeli military declined to comment. Iran has previously denied possessing chemical weapons and described allegations about them as psychological warfare.