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The top American military commander in the Middle East recommended halting the bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz after concluding it had reached the limits of its effectiveness, a recommendation that shaped President Donald Trump's decision Friday to suspend operations, according to sources with knowledge of the matter cited by Axios.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, advised the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House that two weeks of intensive strikes had significantly degraded Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping, but that the designated bombing targets had been "mostly exhausted."
Without a decision to return to full-scale combat, Cooper argued, there was no strategic purpose in continuing the campaign at its existing pace.
Cooper's assessment amounted to an acknowledgment, shared by both military and civilian advisers around the president, that air campaigns carry inherent limits — particularly when defined target sets have been largely struck.
The CENTCOM commander noted that roughly 20 percent of targets designated under Operation Epic Fury had not been hit, and said resuming major combat operations would be the logical prerequisite for any continuation of strikes.
Adding weight to the recommendation, General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, separately cautioned Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in private that a shortage of air defense interceptors risked leaving American forces and regional allies exposed to Iranian retaliation.
Trump had been leaning toward resuming major combat operations in the days before the Friday meeting, but his position began shifting Thursday evening.
His decision to halt the bombing of the strait solidified the following day after advisers presented him with a new strike plan.
A second consecutive night passed without reported strikes from either side, with no explosions or US air raids recorded across Iran, according to an Anadolu Agency tracking of developments.
The overnight calm followed what observers have described as a "quiet for quiet" dynamic, with both Washington and Tehran holding fire as diplomatic channels remain open.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that Trump is "keeping all options on the table" while also giving diplomatic talks with Iran "some space."
Waltz added that negotiations between Washington and Tehran "are ongoing on every level."
The pause comes after Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding in June that included a ceasefire, brokered through Qatari and Pakistani mediation, laying the groundwork for negotiations toward a final agreement.
Iran and Oman are currently negotiating a separate arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial transit without attacks, though it remains unclear whether any such deal would meet Trump's conditions, leaving open the possibility of renewed escalation.
The United States and the United Kingdom are also in discussions over an international conference, planned for later this week, aimed at forming a coalition to protect shipping lanes and clear mines from the strait. No final date for that meeting has been set.
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