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The Trump administration is considering launching a new military operation against Iran while diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement remain underway, CBS News reported Friday, citing sources with direct knowledge of the planning.
No final decision on strikes had been reached as of Friday afternoon.
Trump canceled plans to spend the Memorial Day weekend at his golf property in New Jersey and returned to the White House, citing "circumstances pertaining to Government" in a social media post. He also said he would not attend his son Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding this weekend.
Some U.S. military and intelligence personnel canceled Memorial Day weekend plans in anticipation of possible strikes.
Defense and intelligence officials began updating recall rosters for U.S. overseas installations as troops in the Middle East rotated out of the theater, part of an effort to manage the American military footprint in the region amid concern about possible Iranian retaliation.
The U.S. and Iran have largely refrained from striking each other since a temporary ceasefire began in early April, allowing indirect negotiations on a longer-term agreement to continue.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News: "The President has made his redlines abundantly clear: Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon, and they cannot keep their enriched uranium. The President always maintains all options at all times, and it is the job of the Pentagon to be ready to execute any decision the Commander-in-Chief could make."
The latest U.S. proposal was transmitted to Tehran on Wednesday via Pakistan, which has been serving as the primary intermediary.
A source told CBS News the proposal was accompanied by a warning that rejecting this "final offer" would mean military strikes would resume. Iran is expected to respond soon, also through Pakistan.
"Iran is dying to make a deal," Trump said Friday.
"We'll see what happens." Trump said Wednesday he was prepared to give Tehran "a couple of days" to respond, adding that his team was "pretty impressed" by Iran's negotiators but that the administration would need assurances substantial enough to prevent the conflict from reigniting.
Before boarding a flight to India, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters the U.S. expected to receive a response via Pakistan's army chief, who has acted as the primary conduit with Iran.
Rubio said Trump preferred diplomacy over strikes and that progress had been made, while indicating more work remained.
Rubio also noted that NATO discussions in Sweden had included conversations about how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz through military force, describing it as "Plan B" if Iran did not agree to reopen it voluntarily.
Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and other Iranian officials in Tehran on Friday to discuss diplomatic efforts to prevent escalation and end the war, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported.
A Qatari delegation also traveled to Tehran and joined the mediation efforts, Reuters reported Friday, with Iran's state-run ISNA news agency confirming the Qatari delegation's arrival.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned Wednesday that any further U.S. or Israeli strikes on Iran could widen the conflict beyond the Middle East, threatening "crushing blows in places you cannot even imagine."
Meanwhile, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, pushed back against the diplomatic track Friday, posting on X: "Our commander-in-chief needs to allow America's skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran's conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait."
Wicker said Trump was being "ill advised to pursue a deal that would not be worth the paper it is written on" and called for military action to resume.
"Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran's Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action," Wicker said.
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