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US Military Tells Trump It's ‘Ready’ to Strike Iran as Soon as Saturday

A shot showing personnel preparations aboard the US aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford" (US Navy)
A shot showing personnel preparations aboard the US aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford" (US Navy)
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US Military Tells Trump It's ‘Ready’ to Strike Iran as Soon as Saturday

A shot showing personnel preparations aboard the US aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford" (US Navy)
A shot showing personnel preparations aboard the US aircraft carrier "Gerald Ford" (US Navy)

Top national security officials have told US President Donald Trump the military is ready for potential strikes on Iran as soon as Saturday, but the timeline for any action is likely to extend beyond this weekend, sources familiar with the discussions told CBS News.

Trump has not yet made a final decision about whether to strike, said the officials, who spoke under condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national matters.

The conversations have been described as fluid and ongoing, as the White House weighs the risks of escalation and the political and military consequences of restraint, added CBS.

Over the next three days, the Pentagon is moving some personnel temporarily out of the Middle East region — primarily to Europe or back to the United States — ahead of potential action or counterattacks by Iran if the US were to move ahead with its operation, according to multiple officials.

It's standard practice for the Pentagon to shift assets and personnel ahead of a potential US military activity and doesn't necessarily signal an attack on Iran is imminent, one of the sources told CBS.

Contacted by CBS News on Wednesday afternoon, a Pentagon spokesperson said they had no information to provide.

Iran was discussed in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday, a US official and a senior military official told CBS News. All military forces deployed to the region are expected to be in place by mid-March.

Axios had also said that a war between the United States and Iran is looming — and there are several factors suggesting President Trump might push the button soon.

On Wednesday, Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran was "drafting" a framework for future talks with the United States, as the US energy secretary said Washington would stop Iran's nuclear ambitions "one way or another".

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World

Israel Opposition Figure Makes U-Turn on Ultra-Orthodox Draft to Oust Netanyahu

Avigdor Liberman, then Israel's finance minister, speaks to members of the media in Jerusalem on September 11, 2022. (AFP)
Avigdor Liberman, then Israel's finance minister, speaks to members of the media in Jerusalem on September 11, 2022. (AFP)
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Israel Opposition Figure Makes U-Turn on Ultra-Orthodox Draft to Oust Netanyahu

Avigdor Liberman, then Israel's finance minister, speaks to members of the media in Jerusalem on September 11, 2022. (AFP)
Avigdor Liberman, then Israel's finance minister, speaks to members of the media in Jerusalem on September 11, 2022. (AFP)

A hardline figure in the Israeli opposition said Friday he would moderate longtime demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, seeking a coalition that can oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Neither Netanyahu nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarized over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.

Eisenkot could form a coalition if he works with Israeli-Arabs, whose seat count soared on anger over Netanyahu's far-right government, but that prospect faces strong disagreement from opposition partner Avigdor Liberman, a onetime aide to Netanyahu who now sharply criticizes the prime minister but shares his hawkish views on the Palestinians.

Liberman said Friday he would not back down on rejecting an alliance with Israeli-Arabs but said the opposition should negotiate with ultra-Orthodox Jews, despite his years of heated denunciations of the community for avoiding military service.

Saying the most important goals were removing Netanyahu and avoiding new elections, Liberman said it was time to compromise and "understand that trying to have everything risks getting nothing".

"This also includes the issue of the conscription law," he said in a social media statement.

"This pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But given the full range of challenges we face today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the Jewish people must take precedence over all other considerations."

Liberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party won seven seats, has long demanded an end to an exemption that allows religious students to avoid the military service required of nearly all other Israelis.

Liberman even put up campaign posters vowing to crack down on the "draft-dodgers". During an appearance earlier this year, he described ultra-Orthodox Jews as "anti-Jewish" for their demands.

Netanyahu, while himself personally secular, has long relied on the two main ultra-Orthodox parties, although they left his government -- without seeking to remove him -- after he stopped short of enshrining the draft exemption into law.

One of the parties, United Torah Judaism, declined Thursday to back Netanyahu in forming the next government during consultations with President Isaac Herzog, although it also did not back Eisenkot.

The two ultra-Orthodox parties together have 13 votes, which would give Eisenkot a narrow majority in parliament.

Herzog will announce Sunday who will have the first chance at forming a government -- presumably Eisenkot as he received more recommendations from parties.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service has fueled widespread resentment among other Israelis, with reservists serving multiple tours in the wars Israel has been fighting since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

World

Bus Carrying Kids to School Crashes in France, Leaving 2 Dead and 16 Injured

Representation photo: A firefighter sprays water on a burnt bus as unrest continues in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023. Yves Herman, Reuters
Representation photo: A firefighter sprays water on a burnt bus as unrest continues in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023. Yves Herman, Reuters
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Bus Carrying Kids to School Crashes in France, Leaving 2 Dead and 16 Injured

Representation photo: A firefighter sprays water on a burnt bus as unrest continues in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023. Yves Herman, Reuters
Representation photo: A firefighter sprays water on a burnt bus as unrest continues in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, July 1, 2023. Yves Herman, Reuters

An intercity bus that was carrying children and teenagers to school crashed on Friday morning in eastern France, killing one minor and one young adult, French authorities said. 

The Prefecture in the Ain region said one minor and one young adult were killed, while 16 people were injured, including three seriously, The Associated Press said. 

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on X that he was heading to the site following “a serious bus accident” near the small town of Lent, in a rural area north-east of Lyon. 

“An accident involving an intercity bus occurred near Lent, France, with multiple casualties reported,” the prefecture said in a statement. Emergency services and law enforcement officers have been deployed to the scene, it said. 

News broadcaster BFM TV reported that the passengers included children traveling to middle and high schools in the area. A photo from the scene showed the bus had veered off the road and landed in a ditch. 

“It is always a difficult moment when our students, our children, are victims of an accident like this. My thoughts, and those of the government and the entire education community, are with the families,” Education Minister Édouard Geffray told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to a high school in the Paris region. 

 

World

NATO Seeks ‘Just’ End to Ukraine War as Trump Touts Deal Involving Europe

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse after a Russian drone attack in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP)
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse after a Russian drone attack in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP)
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NATO Seeks ‘Just’ End to Ukraine War as Trump Touts Deal Involving Europe

A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse after a Russian drone attack in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP)
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse after a Russian drone attack in Sofiivska Borshchahivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. (AP)

Ukraine's allies are working for a "just and sustainable" end to the war ahead of US-mediated talks next week in Abu Dhabi, NATO said Friday, after US President Donald Trump touted a deal with Russia involving "all of Europe".

Talks in Brussels on Thursday involving NATO, US, Ukrainian and European officials "built on productive discussions in Miami and Oslo and sought to advance a just and sustainable end to the war in Ukraine", an alliance spokeswoman said.

Trump on Thursday predicted a "very big" deal with Russia involving not only the Ukraine war but "all of Europe," in remarks that will fuel fears on the continent of a pivot towards the Kremlin.

Jared Kushner, the president's envoy and son-in-law, said the United States was working on "a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace".

Kushner, who participated in the Brussels talks via videolink, said that Washington's "objective is to develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides".

"We are exploring five principal goals: permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability," he posted online.

He insisted that "any arrangements must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent decision-making of every nation" and said NATO would "remain central to European collective defense".

The US push will rattle Washington's European allies, who have long rejected Moscow's desire to rewrite the European security architecture.

Before launching the war in Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin delivered an ultimatum to NATO which included a demand that the alliance's troops be withdrawn from eastern Europe.

That was rejected by the Western military alliance.

Europe has meanwhile been seeking to play a bigger role in the US-led push to end the fighting.

Kushner said that Washington will "consult closely with our European partners on the sidelines" of the Abu Dhabi talks and "if progress is made, aim to move toward a broader multilateral format with their direct participation".