The US and Israel are engaged in intense preparations – the largest since the ceasefire took effect – for the possible resumption of attacks against Iran within days, The New York Times has reported, citing two Middle East officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
US President Trump returned from China facing major decisions on Iran, as his top aides have drafted plans for a return to military strikes if he decides to try to break the impasse with more bombs.
Trump has yet to make a decision on his next steps, the aides say. Officials from interested countries have been trying to patch together a compromise that would prompt Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow him to declare victory.
But Trump reiterated to reporters aboard Air Force One soon after he left Beijing on Friday that Iran’s latest peace offer was unacceptable. “I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence I just throw it away,” he said.
Trump said he discussed Iran with President Xi Jinping of China, a strategic partner of Tehran that depends on oil and gas shipped through the strait. But he said he did not ask Xi to pressure Iran, and full details of their discussions have not yet emerged.
Trump faces cross currents on the war. Although it has become a political liability for him and he has often seemed eager to move on, the president has not achieved what he has often presented as the war’s ultimate goal: preventing Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The Pentagon is planning for the possibility that Operation Epic Fury – which was paused when the president declared a ceasefire last month – will pick up again in the coming days, even if under a new name.
“We have a plan to escalate if necessary,” Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers during congressional testimony. He also said there are plans to pack up and go home, returning the surge of more than 50,000 troops assigned to the Middle East now to more standard deployments.
Two Middle East officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said the US and Israel are engaged in intense preparations for the possible resumption of attacks against Iran.
“They’re either going to make a deal or they’re going to be decimated,” Trump said on Tuesday before leaving for China. “So, one way or another, we win.”
US Gen Dan Caine said military officials ‘retain and continue to hold a range of options for our civilian leaders’.
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