DUBAI, Aug. 28 -- The report has one source, and the source has sources it does not name.

Al-Hadath, the Saudi-owned news channel, said on Friday that the United States had warned Israel against launching fresh strikes on Iran, and was pressing it to maintain the current level of de-escalation with Syria. Israel, according to the same account, told Washington it intends to keep carrying out limited and regular strikes in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

Neither government has confirmed any of it. There is no American statement, no Israeli statement, and no second outlet with independent sourcing. That does not make the report wrong, and Al-Hadath is well connected in the Gulf, but it does mean everything in it currently rests on unnamed offi...