WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Trump said a decision on renewed major strikes against Iran would come soon following White House national security meetings.
  • The administration is considering military action, continued economic pressure or a negotiated settlement with Tehran.
  • Qatar is pursuing a proposal involving the naval blockade, frozen Iranian funds, nuclear inspections and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
  • U.S. Central Command is preparing for possible combat operations as another carrier strike group moves toward the Middle East.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would soon decide whether the United States should launch another round of major strikes against Iran. His remarks followed high-level White House deliberations over the next phase of the conflict, as reported by Breitbart.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump raised the possibility of additional military action intended to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear weapons program. At the same time, his administration is considering whether diplomacy could produce an agreement with Tehran.

“Now we will make a decision,” Trump said while discussing whether further strikes would be necessary. He indicated that he would prefer to avoid more destruction but remained prepared to authorize additional attacks.

“I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to,” Trump said. “You’ll know soon enough.”

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Trump also pointed to increased American weapons production and said the military was prepared for further operations. “If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked and loaded,” he said.

His comments followed a Thursday meeting with his top national security advisers, according to Axios, which cited two U.S. officials. It was their first discussion about Iran since Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Senior administration officials separately told Fox News that White House meetings about potentially resuming military operations took place Wednesday and Thursday. Trump had ruled out further major strikes before the elections, but his administration is now reviewing several possible courses.

Those options include a renewed large-scale military campaign, continued economic pressure through sanctions and the naval blockade, or a negotiated settlement with Tehran. The deliberations came two days after Republicans suffered major midterm losses.

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Trump acknowledged that higher gasoline prices resulting from the Iran conflict partly drove those losses. Even so, he defended the campaign conducted by the United States and Israel, arguing that preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons justified the political consequences and that he would authorize the operation again.

Vice President JD Vance has emerged as a leading advocate for diplomacy instead of renewed strikes. In a lengthy Wednesday statement, Vance directly blamed the Iran conflict for the Republican defeat and argued that voters who supported Trump in 2024 turned against the party over the operation.

Diplomatic activity has intensified as Washington weighs its military choices. Qatar is leading efforts to broker an agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart negotiations concerning Iran’s nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held multiple calls Thursday with regional mediators from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt. The New York Times reported that Iran was reviewing concrete proposals delivered through mediators after weeks of resisting negotiations, citing five officials briefed on the discussions.

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The diplomatic contacts included two rounds of talks in Tehran, a third in Doha and additional discussions with Iranian officials in Armenia. Tehran has insisted that Washington first satisfy seven demands, including lifting sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, compensating Iran for conflict damage and ending the U.S. naval blockade.

Washington previously rejected several of those demands and has insisted that Iran’s nuclear program must be permanently dismantled. Despite the divide, Iran submitted a nuclear proposal to the United States through Qatar on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing a senior Iranian official.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a key participant in indirect negotiations with Washington, repeated Tehran’s uncompromising public position after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Rezaei said Iran would not stop obstructing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz or begin negotiations until the United States met all seven conditions.

Privately, Rezaei has shown more willingness to discuss Iran’s nuclear program than his public comments indicate, according to the Times, which cited two Iranian officials and an American official. The discussions have also involved Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains a central obstacle. Trump has demanded that Tehran surrender the material under any nuclear agreement, while Iranian officials have refused to transfer it abroad, although earlier negotiations explored diluting it inside Iran under international supervision.

Qatari mediators are pursuing a possible compromise through a proposal spanning two days. Washington would initially lift its naval blockade and release some frozen Iranian funds, while Tehran would invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to examine nuclear facilities damaged during the conflict.

The Strait of Hormuz would reopen on the second day, clearing a path toward renewed negotiations over Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Neither Washington nor Tehran has announced that it accepted the arrangement.

Asked about reports that Iranian negotiators were considering a new nuclear proposal, Trump said, “They’re not doing anything without our approval.” He added, “It doesn’t make a difference what they’re looking at. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”

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Trump also said American forces controlled “everything that we’ve wanted to control” in Iran and described the U.S. military position as “virtually an occupation.” He estimated that Iran could require 25 years to rebuild from the destruction caused during the conflict.

U.S. Central Command is finalizing preparations for a possible return to major combat operations, although it has received no new directive from Washington, according to a U.S. official. The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is moving toward the Middle East, where two other American carrier strike groups are already deployed.

The Roosevelt is scheduled to stop in Singapore on Friday and is not expected to enter Central Command’s area of responsibility before mid-November. Its arrival could signal preparations for renewed strikes as Trump weighs military action against a potential diplomatic breakthrough.

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