Is America Approaching a Full-Scale War with Iran? Details of the Secret Meeting

The New York Times confirmed that US President Donald Trump is reviewing new military options against Iran, bringing the possibility of military escalation back to the forefront after weeks of fragile calm.

This comes amid stalled negotiations regarding the Iranian nuclear program and Tehran's continued control of the Strait of Hormuz.

The newspaper reported that Trump held a meeting on Friday morning inside the Oval Office with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in a step that appeared linked to reviewing available military options for the possibility of resuming the bombing campaign against Iran, which stopped on April 8.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, revealed the meeting during a graduation ceremony at the US Naval Academy, without going into the details of the discussions.

Multiple Targets

According to the report, Washington no longer sees actual progress in nuclear negotiations with Tehran, after the talks reached a "dead end," coinciding with the ongoing crisis related to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most vital corridors for global energy trade.

It indicated that the list of potential targets remains broad, including energy facilities that were not bombed during about 38 days of previous operations, in addition to the deep nuclear storage site in Isfahan, which contains Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium close to the level used in manufacturing nuclear weapons, as well as missile sites previously targeted last March, but which appear to have regained some of their readiness.

The newspaper also quoted Trump as saying he canceled his attendance at his son Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding due to "government-related circumstances," in reference to the sensitivity of current developments.

Failure to Achieve Decisiveness

The report confirmed that the Trump administration faces a more complex reality compared to the start of military operations that began in late February in coordination with Israel, as previous strikes, despite their intensity, failed to force the Iranian leadership to make decisive concessions.

Despite the destruction of large parts of the Iranian navy, air force, missile sites, and military bases, the stockpile of highly enriched uranium remains at the Isfahan facility underground, while Iranian missile capabilities have declined without being completely eliminated.

The Strait of Hormuz also remained under Iranian influence, despite the US Navy continuing to intercept shipments to and from Iranian ports.

According to the newspaper, the political risks associated with any new escalation have increased, especially with fuel prices exceeding five dollars per gallon in some US states, in addition to Trump's approval rating dropping to about 37% according to polls, amid growing popular opposition to the war.

Energy and Infrastructure

The newspaper reported that one of the options under consideration is expanding attacks on Iranian infrastructure, including power plants, water desalination plants, oil wells, roads, and bridges, in an attempt to increase economic and political pressure on Tehran.

However, this option raises legal and political debate within the United States, after critics considered that targeting civilian facilities could amount to war crimes, resembling Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure since 2022. In contrast, the US Department of Defense says the targets under review are directly linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The US administration believes that striking facilities linked to the Revolutionary Guard may push power centers inside Iran to make greater concessions during any future negotiations, but the report indicated that this approach does not guarantee the collapse of the Iranian position, despite the widespread suffering it may cause to the population.

American Concern

On the missile file, the newspaper revealed that US military planners discussed implementing an intensive bombing campaign along the Strait of Hormuz aimed at reducing Iran's control over the sea lane that used to transport about a fifth of the world's oil supplies before the war.

However, the Pentagon faces a growing dilemma related to the declining stockpile of long-range missiles and heavy munitions needed to destroy fortified underground Iranian sites. For this reason, Washington previously used lighter munitions aimed at closing the entrances to missile sites instead of completely destroying them.

But US intelligence assessments showed that Iran regained access to 30 out of 33 missile sites along the strait, while about 90% of underground missile storage and launch facilities have become "partially or fully operational," according to the report.

Uranium

The newspaper pointed out that one of the most sensitive files concerns the stockpile of highly enriched uranium, as Trump is considering the option of carrying out direct strikes using bunker-buster bombs to target the deep facilities in Isfahan.

It revealed that the United States and Israel discussed, at the beginning of the war, a complex plan to send special forces into Iran to recover the uranium, and even prepared a temporary airstrip inside Iranian territory to transport containers holding the material enriched to 60%. However, Trump later rejected the operation due to high risks and the potential for casualties.

Although striking the site may prevent Iran from accessing the nuclear stockpile, the report indicated that any new attack might make it difficult to ascertain whether Tehran had transferred part of the uranium to other sites before the strike.

Targeting Iranian Leadership

The report also addressed possibilities of targeting new Iranian leadership figures, after Israel killed during the war the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a number of senior officials linked to the Iranian nuclear program.

The newspaper mentioned that the new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, is seen as an option supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, while Trump expressed displeasure at his rise to power, despite previously describing the new Iranian regime as "reasonable."

It also pointed to veiled threats issued by Trump against the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who participated in peace talks with US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad last March.