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Trump says he will decide soon whether to resume major strikes on Iran

Iran's top security official says Tehran will not negotiate until the US meets seven conditions, while Qatari mediators discuss a draft two-day plan.

Donald Trump in 2025
Donald Trump in 2025. Photo: Daniel Torok, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
8 news outlets reported this · Little coverage from liberal outlets
Liberal2 outletsTrump's options and Iran's diplomatic moves after midtermsCenter2 outletsTrump's options on Iran after the midtermsConservative4 outletsTrump's warning of strikes and Iran's seven demands
Published 4 min readMoney and daily life
Overview

President Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday that he will "soon" decide whether to resume major combat operations in Iran. He prefers to spare the rest of the country, "but maybe I'll have to." Axios, citing two US officials, reports that he met his national security advisers on Thursday, their first session on Iran since Tuesday's midterm elections.

Breitbart News, citing Fox News, reports White House meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Daily Mail, citing multiple reports, says the same. Axios reports that Trump is weighing, at least for now, three options: new strikes, continued economic strangling of Iran's regime, or a deal with significant concessions to Iran. According to Axios, citing regional sources, Qatari mediators are discussing a draft two-day proposal.

On day one, Washington would end its naval blockade and free some of Iran's frozen funds, while Tehran would invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to bombed nuclear sites. The would reopen on day two, followed by renewed nuclear talks. Breitbart says neither side has announced acceptance.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in Russia on Thursday that Iran will neither open the strait nor negotiate until the US meets seven conditions. A US official told Axios that Central Command is finalizing preparations to potentially resume major combat operations but has received no new directive.

Key figures
  • seven conditions Iran's demands before it reopens Hormuz or negotiates, per Rezaei — Axios
  • over two days length of the Qatari draft confidence-building proposal — Axios
  • mid-November earliest the USS Theodore Roosevelt group reaches CENTCOM's area, a US official said — Axios
  • $4.15 a gallon average price paid by drivers on Election Day, per the Daily Mail — Daily Mail
  • nearly $1,230 cost of higher energy prices to the average American household, per the Daily Mail — Daily Mail

Three sides of the story

Liberal2 outlets

Trump's options and Iran's diplomatic moves after midterms

Axios opens with Trump saying, after a Thursday meeting with his security advisers, that a decision on resuming "all-out war" in Iran is coming soon. It cites two US officials for the meeting and lists three options for now: new strikes, continued economic strangling of Iran's regime, or a deal with significant concessions. It then describes the Qatari draft, in which the US would lift its blockade and release some of Iran's frozen funds on day one and Hormuz would reopen on day two.

It adds Rezaei's meeting with Putin and a US official's account that Central Command is finalizing preparations to potentially resume major combat operations, though it hasn't received a new directive. Semafor centers on uncertainty after what it calls a "stunning GOP midterms loss." It quotes Nate Swanson, a former State Department representative on Trump's Iran negotiating team, calling the loss a "validation" of Iran's strategy, and a White House official saying Trump "holds all the cards."

Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations says Trump is unlikely for now to return to full-scale war but could decide "to finish the job."

Center2 outlets

Trump's options on Iran after the midterms

Forbes headlines a look at what to expect in foreign policy after the midterms, covering Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Israel, the and the Gulf before January and the new Congress. NewsNation asks what options Trump has in Iran, saying his next move could be critical to reaching a deal, whether through diplomacy, continued warfare or patience.

Conservative4 outlets

Trump's warning of strikes and Iran's seven demands

Breitbart News headlines Trump saying a decision on renewed strikes is coming "soon." In its own telling, the administration is weighing a renewed large-scale campaign, continued economic pressure through and the naval blockade, or a settlement, and Vice President Vance has emerged as "a leading advocate of diplomacy." It credits Axios for the two-day Qatari plan and says neither Washington nor Tehran has announced acceptance.

The Epoch Times headlines Trump saying the US is "locked and loaded," quotes him that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon, and adds the Saudi-led coalition's statement that it intercepted two Houthi ballistic missiles aimed at Najran, plus Trump's call with Qatar's emir. The Daily Mail leads with Trump meeting his team "as deal nears," cites sources who told Fox News that a new moon on Monday offers cover for air operations, and relays The Times on Iran handing out iodine tablets. Just the News reports that experts from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, including Behnam Ben Taleblu, favor keeping the blockade and sanctions over new strikes.

"I would say, hold the line," Taleblu says.

What a side did not mention
Money and daily life

For drivers, the Daily Mail reports an average of $4.15 a gallon on Election Day, and says the average American household lost nearly $1,230 to higher energy costs. Just the News quotes Trump saying the war "drove the gasoline up a little bit short term." The Daily Mail also says the Strait of Hormuz carried a quarter of the world's traded oil.

All sources: 8 articles from 8 outlets

Liberal (2)

Center (2)

Conservative (4)

Related
Strait of Hormuz

The narrow sea passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which tankers leave the Persian Gulf. About a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through it, so any threat there moves fuel prices worldwide.

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Houthis

An armed movement in Yemen, aligned with Iran, that has controlled the capital Sanaa and the north of the country since 2014. Since late 2023 it has attacked ships in the Red Sea, disrupting a main trade route between Asia and Europe.

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Sanctions

Penalties one country imposes on another, or on companies and people: freezing assets, banning trade, cutting off banks. The aim is to change behaviour without war.

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