Trump held a meeting on plans for war with Iran following the suspension of the attack
On Monday evening, US President Donald Trump held a meeting with national security officials, during which he was briefed on possible military action against Iran. This was reported to Axios by two US officials.
The meeting took place a few hours after Trump announced the suspension of attacks which, he said, had been planned for Tuesday.
The US President continues to assert that Iran has only a few days to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough. Trump stated that the deadline could come “in two or three days, perhaps on Friday or Saturday, or early next week”.
Although Trump has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action during the ceasefire, the very fact that a briefing on military plans took place indicates that the possibility of resuming the war is being seriously considered.
US officials reported that, prior to announcing the pause, Trump had not yet made a final decision on striking Iran. On Tuesday, he stated that he was “an hour” away from giving the order to attack. Some officials expected that a decision on strikes might be taken during a national security team meeting, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday but ultimately took place on Monday evening.
According to US officials and regional sources, one reason for the pause was concern among Gulf leaders about possible Iranian retaliatory strikes on oil infrastructure and energy facilities.
Axios’s sources said that Gulf representatives urged Trump to give the negotiations another chance.
The meeting was attended by Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Special Representative Steve Witkoff, Defence Secretary Pete Hagset, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Kane, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and other senior officials.
During the meeting, they discussed next steps in the war with Iran, the state of diplomatic efforts, and various US military scenarios for strikes against Iran.
The White House did not respond to Axios’s request for comment.
A source close to Trump told Axios that several hardliners on Iran were left with the impression, following the president’s statement, that he was intent on increasing pressure on Tehran to secure concessions in negotiations.
At the same time, many US officials were surprised by Trump’s announcement of a pause and do not understand which direction he plans to take next.
Some of them suggest that the president may postpone a decision again if there is no diplomatic breakthrough.
Trump spoke of ‘serious negotiations’, but a senior US official told Axios that Iran’s latest counter-proposal had not demonstrated any significant progress.
Mediators are trying to persuade Iran to adopt a more flexible stance on US demands regarding its nuclear programme.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump said that the US could launch a new strike against Iran.
“We may have to strike Iran with another powerful blow. I’m not sure yet. You’ll find out soon,” said the US president.
