In fast-moving developments in Iran on October 5, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel had delivered powerful strikes against Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missile depots, without providing further details about the nature, timing, or location of these strikes. In a related context, the United States withdrew about 12 B-1 bombers from the Royal Air Force base in Fairford, United Kingdom, following security concerns over an alleged threat to the base. These aircraft had been used to carry out rapid strikes against Iran during the ongoing war. Analysts said the withdrawal reduces the capacity to increase air sorties against Iran but does not end military options, and may lead to reliance on distant bases such as Diego Garcia or bases in the Gulf. Tehran denied any connection to the alleged plot.
In Tehran, the Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdollahi, issued stern warnings of a new military confrontation in the region, threatening to target American interests immediately and without restrictions if Washington takes any military action, and to deliver a crushing response to Israel if it engages in a direct confrontation. He denied that Iran's nuclear program had been converted to a military path. Meanwhile, reports indicated that the Israeli army had raised its readiness and preparedness for an independent attack, while ruling out an all-out confrontation before the U.S. Congress elections.
On another front, Iran's mission to international organizations in Vienna responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's statements that some targeted Iranian facilities were used for drug production, describing them as a new 'big lie' added to Washington's claims about Tehran's nuclear program, and calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency to expose what it called lies. In a related development, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, head of the advisory group to the IRGC Commander-in-Chief, said that U.S. naval forces 'no longer exist' in the Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Sea of Oman, and had moved further away.
Domestically, Iran executed two men who had been arrested over the protests that swept the country in January, according to LBCI, with no additional details about their identities, the location of the execution, or its timing.