US President Donald Trump on Wednesday afternoon convened a high-level Situation Room council to deliberate on initiating a fresh round of military operations against Iran.
According to two domestic sources speaking to Axios, the strategic session occurred just hours after the President publicly informed members of the press that the United States would "hit them again hard today."
Insiders revealed to Axios that the Trump administration is weighing an operational framework that would be extensive in magnitude but tightly constrained in its duration. The overarching objective of such a strike would be to apply maximum pressure on Tehran, forcing the regime to shift its current posture within ongoing diplomatic talks.
The individuals familiar with the matter did not provide precise details regarding the exact targets or timeline of the proposed assault.
Concurrently, Qatari intermediaries conducted a series of diplomatic discussions with Iranian dignitaries in Tehran on Wednesday, the report said. The urgent meetings were organized in an effort to revive and inject momentum back into the complex framework that Washington and Tehran have been hammering out for several weeks.
However, observers note that barring a sudden diplomatic breakthrough from these talks, fresh American missile strikes are highly imminent.
The US military bombarded Iranian air defense installations and radar networks on Tuesday evening, a maneuver executed in retaliation for the downing of an American helicopter. Those specific operations were meticulously calibrated by commanders to prevent any human casualties, purposefully leaving the door open for a negotiated settlement.
The emergency Situation Room assembly drew a vast array of top-tier administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
Joining the deliberations remotely from Central Command (CENTCOM) headquarters in Tampa, Florida, was Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
Representatives for the White House declined to issue any formal statement regarding the meeting or the proposed military options. Sources indicate that Trump's internal impatience has been steadily escalating over the past fortnight as the administration waits for the Iranian leadership to formally respond to Washington's latest diplomatic compromise.
On Tuesday night, after the US strikes on Iran, an administration source told Politico that Trump still believes that a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran is imminent.
“Nothing changes where the deal stands right now," said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive national security information. The official stressed that a deal with Tehran was “still close."