Following high-level briefings with top national security advisors, US President Donald Trump is giving serious consideration to significantly expanding American military operations targeting Iran, according to US officials cited on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
The strategic alternatives placed before the president include intensifying campaign airstrikes, launching ground operations to capture key Persian Gulf islands near the Strait of Hormuz, or bombing a deeply buried, fortified subterranean tunnel network known as Pickaxe Mountain that could support covert nuclear developments.
Trump reviewed these military possibilities during a Situation Room briefing on Tuesday evening, where discussions centered on sending American forces to occupy strategic territory along the strait, such as Kharg Island, alongside options to target Pickaxe Mountain and hit broader Iranian energy infrastructure, according to the WSJ report.
The session capped days of consultations involving senior leaders, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
While Trump maintains publicly and privately that he prefers a diplomatic resolution, negotiations remain stuck. Tehran has resisted demands to surrender its enriched nuclear stockpiles despite months of direct strikes and a brief interim agreement that briefly permitted restricted oil exports. The impasse has prompted Trump to seek harsher options designed to compel capitulation or end Houthi and Iranian aggression against international maritime traffic.
A decision to greenlight ground operations or target Pickaxe Mountain would mark the most hazardous escalation of the nearly five-month conflict, carrying risks of increased gas prices and political complications ahead of the midterms. However, administration sources note that Trump remains hesitant to put troops on the ground and has repeatedly walked back past declarations regarding full-scale territorial seizures.
The military options come on the heels of a fifth consecutive day of US military strikes against Iran, triggered when a temporary ceasefire collapsed after Iranian forces launched attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Washington to reimpose its naval blockade.
On Tuesday, Trump warned that US strikes on Iran will increase and target key infrastructure unless the Iranians engage in serious negotiations for a deal.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Trump stated, "We're going to hit them very hard tonight, we're going to hit them very hard tomorrow night, we're going to hit them very hard the night after, and then next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants, next week comes the bridges."
“We're going to knock out all their power plants, we're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate," he added.
Trump stressed that the strikes on Iran will “continue until I say it's enough…the word the military likes to use is degrade. They've been degraded to a very low level."