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U.S. President Donald Trump held a Situation Room meeting Tuesday to discuss plans for a major new offensive against Iran that would be broader than the ongoing strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported, citing three sources familiar with the discussions.
The meeting came as the U.S. military carried out strikes in the Strait of Hormuz area and along Iran’s southern coast for a fourth consecutive day.
According to the report, the Trump administration is considering an escalation intended to inflict enough damage to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz and accepting the president’s nuclear demands.
The latest U.S. strikes primarily targeted air defense and radar systems, anti-ship missile positions and drone launch sites.
U.S. officials said the operations were intended to significantly reduce Iran’s ability to carry out attacks against vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran responded by continuing to launch missiles and drones at U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.
A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports took effect Tuesday afternoon.
Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the U.S. military’s Central Command, said Iran had deliberately targeted civilians across the region during the past week.
Cooper said Iranian attacks had struck seven commercial vessels, leaving nearly a dozen civilian crew members dead, missing or injured.
Despite the attacks, the U.S. military coordinated the passage of 300 ships through the strait over the past week, according to U.S. officials.
Trump was joined by members of his senior national security team, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and other senior officials also attended, according to the sources cited by Axios.
The discussions focused on plans for strikes against strategic targets inside Iran in addition to the ongoing operations against Iranian positions near the Strait of Hormuz.
Before the Situation Room meeting, Trump told Fox News that U.S. attacks against Iran would expand in the coming days.
He said the U.S. military would strike Iran “hard” over the next three days and warned that the campaign could escalate significantly afterward.
“Next week, it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants,” Trump said. “Next week comes the bridges. We’re gonna knock out all their power plants. We’re gonna knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate.”
Trump said the U.S. was also monitoring what he described as suspicious Iranian activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a deep underground facility.
The U.S. and Israel believe Iran intends to use the site for its nuclear program and that it could be protected from airstrikes.
Trump said U.S. bunker-buster weapons “can go deep,” but added that no one knew whether Pickaxe Mountain could withstand such an attack.
“By the way, nobody knows if they even are doing anything in Pickaxe,” Trump said. “It’s just something that comes up. We have cameras on it. There’s very little activity there. But, uh, if there’s even just a small amount, we’ll hit it and we’ll hit it hard.”
Trump said U.S. negotiators spoke with Iranian officials Tuesday and conveyed that Tehran needed to return to negotiations.
“I said, ‘You better make a deal, or you’re not gonna have anything left,’” Trump said.
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