President Donald Trump convened a high-level national security meeting in the White House Situation Room on Monday afternoon to discuss the administration’s next moves on Iran, according to a US official who spoke with The Times of Israel. The meeting follows the collapse of negotiations with Tehran over the weekend, with Iran refusing to make substantial concessions on its nuclear program.
Attendees at the meeting include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine, and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Two senior US officials told Channel 12 that renewed military action is on the table to ratchet up pressure on Iran, with one quoted as saying, “Trump is going to hit them a bit.”
The developments come on the heels of Trump’s remarks to reporters in the Oval Office earlier Monday, where he lambasted the current ceasefire as “unbelievably weak” and “on life support” after reading Iran’s response, which he dismissed as a “piece of garbage.” While Trump initially confirmed reports that Iran had agreed to remove all enriched uranium from the country, he quickly reversed course, claiming they “didn’t put it in the paper.” Iranian sources have disputed Western media accounts, denying any such agreement was ever made.
The president’s skepticism about the ceasefire and frustration with the diplomatic impasse have fueled speculation that the White House is preparing for a return to hostilities. When pressed on Monday about his plans should the ceasefire fully unravel, Trump asserted that he has “the best plan ever,” claiming that Iran has already been “defeated militarily totally” with only “a little left.”
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One Response
Iran clearly doesn’t fear the ceasefire coming to an end and the return of US bombing. After all it was due to their repeated attacks that the ceasefire is on life support, and the only “life support” it is getting is the US not wanting to end it.
So while ending the ceasefire will clearly not get Iran to change its mind it can very likely result in Iran inflicting very serious damage on the energy facilities in the Gulf countries, which in turn will cause energy prices to rise much higher. As it has been said about Iran; while they never win a war they never lose a negotiation.
In fact its quite possible the reason Iran kept violating the ceasefire was precisely so it should fall apart and give them an excuse to cause energy prices to get much higher, placing enormous pressure on Trump to end the war in their terms.