President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would soon decide whether to authorize another series of major strikes against Iran, following high-level White House discussions about the next stage of the conflict.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump suggested that additional military action could be necessary to prevent Iran from reconstituting its nuclear weapons program, even as his administration considers a potential diplomatic agreement with Tehran.
“Now we will make a decision,” Trump said, as he considered whether the United States should carry out further strikes to ensure Iran could never rebuild its nuclear weapons program.
Trump said he would prefer to avoid further destruction but remained willing to order more attacks. “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I’ll have to,” he said. “You’ll know soon enough.”
Trump underscored that warning by pointing to rising U.S. weapons production and the military’s preparedness for additional operations. “If we have to do the rest of the Iran thing, we’re very much locked and loaded,” he said.
Trump spoke after meeting Thursday with his top national security advisers in their first discussion of Iran since Tuesday’s midterm elections, Axios reported, citing two U.S. officials. Senior administration officials separately told Fox News that the White House had also held meetings Wednesday and Thursday about a possible return to military operations.
The talks followed Trump’s earlier decision to rule out additional major strikes before the elections. His administration is now weighing several options: a renewed large-scale military campaign, continued economic pressure on Iran through sanctions and a naval blockade, or a negotiated agreement with Tehran.
The deliberations took place just two days after Republicans suffered significant losses in the midterm elections. Trump acknowledged that higher gasoline prices linked to the Iran conflict had contributed to the results. He strongly defended the U.S.-Israeli campaign, arguing that stopping Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons justified the political consequences and saying he would approve the operation again.
Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, has become one of the administration’s most prominent voices for diplomacy over renewed military action. In an extensive statement Wednesday, Vance directly attributed the Republican defeat to the Iran conflict, arguing that voters who backed Trump in 2024 had turned against the party because of the operation.
As Washington reviews its military choices, diplomatic activity has accelerated. Qatar is leading efforts to broker an agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held several calls Thursday with regional mediators from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Iran was examining specific proposals delivered through mediators after weeks of rejecting negotiations, according to five officials briefed on the discussions. The diplomatic outreach has included two rounds of talks in Tehran, a third in Doha and additional meetings with Iranian officials in Armenia.
The reported opening came despite Tehran’s demand that Washington first satisfy seven conditions, including lifting sanctions, unfreezing Iranian assets, compensating Iran for damage caused during the conflict and ending the U.S. naval blockade. Washington has previously rejected several of those demands while insisting that Iran’s nuclear program must be permanently dismantled.
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Nevertheless, Iran sent a nuclear proposal to the United States through Qatar on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing a senior Iranian official. The official said further negotiations would depend on Washington meeting Tehran’s conditions, including sanctions relief and an end to the blockade.
Mohsen Rezaei, the powerful secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a central figure in indirect talks with Washington, repeated Tehran’s hard-line position Thursday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Rezaei said Iran would neither lift its restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz nor begin negotiations until the United States met all seven of its demands.
Behind closed doors, however, Rezaei has shown more openness to discussing Iran’s nuclear program than his public comments indicate, according to the Times, which cited two Iranian officials and an American official. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have also participated in the discussions.
A major sticking point is Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Trump has demanded Tehran surrender under any nuclear agreement. Iranian officials have rejected sending the material abroad, although earlier negotiations considered diluting it inside Iran under international oversight.
Qatari mediators are continuing to pursue a compromise aimed at resolving the impasse. Under a two-day proposal described by Axios, Washington would initially lift its naval blockade and release some frozen Iranian funds. Tehran, in return, would formally invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to examine nuclear facilities damaged during the conflict.
The proposal would require the Strait of Hormuz to reopen on the second day, creating a path toward renewed talks over Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile. Neither Washington nor Tehran has said it accepts the arrangement.
Asked Thursday about reports that Iranian negotiators were reviewing a new nuclear proposal, Trump said Tehran could not continue its nuclear program without Washington’s approval.
“They’re not doing anything without our approval,” he told reporters. “It doesn’t make a difference what they’re looking at. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also claimed that American forces controlled “everything that we’ve wanted to control” in Iran, describing the U.S. military’s position as “virtually an occupation.” He estimated that Iran could need 25 years to rebuild from the damage caused by the conflict.
U.S. military planning has continued alongside the diplomatic push. U.S. Central Command is completing preparations for a possible return to major combat operations, though it has not received a new directive from Washington, according to a U.S. official cited in the report.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group is also heading toward the Middle East, where two other American carrier strike groups are already deployed. Its arrival could indicate preparations for renewed strikes. 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.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for – News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.