President Donald Trump has held several high-level discussions in recent days about whether to resume full-scale military operations against Iran, consulting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The discussions included the possibility of launching major new strikes against Iran, but Trump has for now opted to continue with diplomatic negotiations rather than resume military action.
US officials familiar with the discussions said the central question was whether the United States should abandon ongoing negotiations and return to a full-scale offensive against Iran. Some administration officials view this option as “finishing the job,” but Trump has not made a final decision.
Trump has argued to associates that resuming full-scale strikes could collapse the ongoing diplomatic process and ultimately undermine the long-term US goal of neutralizing Iran’s nuclear program. He has also told associates he is comfortable extending the August 18 deadline for a nuclear agreement, saying the extra time will allow more room for negotiations.
For now, Trump remains satisfied with a policy of limited, one-off strikes when Iran violates the memorandum of understanding. Clashes over the weekend stemming from the memorandum have put new pressure on a fragile ceasefire established just two weeks ago.
Presenting military options to the president during an active conflict is standard Pentagon procedure, and Trump regularly holds both formal and informal meetings on Iran. However, the recent discussions suggest he is exploring new ways to break the deadlock with Tehran and has not entirely ruled out the military path.
Some administration officials believe resuming hostilities would be seen as a tacit admission that the much-discussed Iran deal has failed. Trump publicly maintains that negotiations are moving in a positive direction. He told reporters last week that Iran was agreeing to all his conditions and would have to comply, or the United States would take necessary action again. A White House official said Trump always prioritizes diplomacy and that reaching a good deal with the United States would be Iran’s wisest course.
Vice President JD Vance said on Fox News on Tuesday that Trump has directed the administration to see the results of negotiations but that multiple options remain if diplomacy fails. The same day, Trump’s Iran envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Doha for a new round of talks. Qatari officials said they did not sit directly with Iranian representatives but communicated through intermediaries. Technical-level talks between the two sides are also expected this week.
Officials and analysts said the two sides have been negotiating for more than a week following their agreement on a 60-day negotiation framework. A major sticking point is the Strait of Hormuz. Iran demands that ships using the waterway pay billions of dollars in service fees, while the United States insists the strait should remain open to all traffic as it was before the conflict.
Tehran has said it will not accept strict limitations on its nuclear program, though Trump has claimed Iran has already made such commitments. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday that Iran has not been cooperative so far, adding that US military protection has helped normalize global oil supply. The United States will ensure fuel flows through the Strait of Hormuz regardless of Iran’s cooperation, though cooperation would make things easier, he said. He also reiterated the demand for an end to Iran’s nuclear program.
The United States is attempting to establish an emergency communication channel between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and US Central Command to reduce tensions. Some officials see this as a sign of improving relations, while others say the initiative is still in its early stages. The White House says the channel is already operational and has been used by both sides.
With diplomatic progress stalling, Trump is also examining contingency plans. Defense officials have briefed him on various options for new large-scale air strikes against Iranian military installations. In Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, US forces struck more than 13,000 targets inside Iran, destroying much of Iran’s conventional missile and drone capability and damaging its ability to produce new weapons.
By late March, senior military officials told Trump that completely dismantling Iran’s military capacity would require several more weeks. Trump agreed to a preliminary ceasefire on April 7. Since then, he has repeatedly stepped back from authorizing large-scale military action. At one point he threatened to destroy “Iranian civilization” and seize Kharg Island, but later reversed course and returned to negotiations.
Trump has previously told associates he would only resume the war if Iran killed American soldiers. In a June statement, he said the United States could easily resume bombing and destroy Iran’s capabilities within weeks, but that doing so could close the Strait of Hormuz for an extended period and cause many deaths. He said an effective deal would be a more powerful solution than war.
Suzanne Maloney, an Iran specialist and vice president for foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution, said Trump still has options to increase pressure. The United States could restrict Iran’s access to billions of dollars in frozen funds or raise the economic cost of Iran’s attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz, she said. However, she cautioned that this middle-ground approach has limitations. Trump appears reluctant to return to full-scale war, while Iran retains the ability to disrupt the waterway. Predictable US responses combined with conditional economic incentives could encourage Tehran not to push the situation toward excessive risk, she said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report