US President Donald Trump is considering expanding military operations against Iran through an intensive air campaign that could last between 10 and 14 days, as his administration continues to assess both military and diplomatic options, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
According to the newspaper, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper presented a plan involving sustained air strikes aimed at reducing Iran’s missile capabilities and weakening its military infrastructure in an effort to alter the course of the confrontation.
The report said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth supports carrying out the air campaign, arguing that it could limit Iran’s ability to launch retaliatory attacks.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, however, has expressed reservations about expanding the operations, warning that doing so could deplete US air-defence missile stockpiles and affect the military’s readiness to respond to other crises.
Trump is leaning toward military escalation but has yet to make a final decision, the newspaper said, as he continues to weigh an expansion of the strikes against keeping the door open to diplomacy.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that discussions within the US administration include Israel’s role in any broader military operation, amid differing views over whether airstrikes alone could achieve long-term strategic objectives against Iran.
Early yesterday, the US military announced that it had completed an ‘intensive wave’ of strikes against Iran after Washington resumed attacks on Tehran following a week of de-escalation, raising concerns about a widening war in the Middle East, particularly as Iran’s regional allies become increasingly involved in the confrontation.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that its forces had ‘successfully completed an intensive wave of strikes against Iran’ in response to attempted missile attacks targeting US forces the previous day.
It said the strikes targeted dozens of sites belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Iran, including military command centres.
CENTCOM added that dozens of IRGC targets were struck, including military command centres, missile and drone facilities, coastal surveillance and defence sites, and naval capabilities.
Meanwhile, a drone strike on gas vessels in Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Damietta signalled a potential new front in the US-Iran war, raising the prospect of threats to navigation through the Suez Canal.
Egypt’s cabinet said yesterday that an initial investigation found an unidentified drone caused a fire on two vessels at Damietta port on Wednesday.
The port lies near the Suez Canal, which links the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
No group has claimed responsibility, the cabinet said. Trading sources familiar with the incident said the drone hit US-owned gas storage tanker Energos Winter, causing a fire that spread to a second vessel.
The latest strikes in Iraq and Egypt threatened to draw more Middle Eastern countries into the conflict, threatening the alternative Red Sea route for its oil to Asia.
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