Tehran has warned Gulf governments that American attacks on Iran’s electrical grid would produce “unlimited retaliation” against countries hosting American military forces.
Those threats cannot be dismissed as empty rhetoric. Earlier in the conflict, Iranian missiles and drones damaged Qatar’s enormous Ras Laffan energy complex, targeted Saudi facilities, set fires at Kuwaiti refineries and forced the United Arab Emirates to shut gas installations.
Iran could attempt to strike American bases in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It could simultaneously target electrical plants, oil terminals, refineries, pipelines and water-desalination facilities belonging to those countries.
Desalination plants are particularly consequential because several Gulf nations depend heavily on them for drinking water. Even limited disruption could create panic, force emergency rationing and place enormous pressure on governments that want no part in the war.
Israel would almost certainly prepare for renewed ballistic-missile attacks. Municipalities including Ramat Gan, Eilat and Karmiel have opened public shelters after local assessments concluded that the danger of Iranian missile fire over the weekend was no longer negligible. Israeli officials reportedly believe that an American attack against strategic Iranian infrastructure or senior regime figures could cause Tehran to bring Israel directly back into the conflict.
The shelter openings are therefore meaningful. But they are precautionary indicators–not proof that Israel has received the exact time of an impending American attack.