The U.S. administration publicly signaled strikes on key sites inside Iran, launching all-out military pressure to break the deadlock and clinch a peace deal. President Donald Trump convened a top-level national security meeting at the White House and reviewed a large-scale, short-duration strike plan aimed at Iran's heartland, ratcheting up the drumbeat of war in the Middle East to a peak.
On the 10th (local time), according to reports by major outlets including Axios and CBS, Defense Minister Pete Hegseth visited U.S. Central Command in Florida and laid out plans to bomb Iran's core facilities. Speaking to reporters, Hegseth said, "Iran had a chance to make a good deal, but it keeps dragging out the talks and just going 'tap, tap, tap,'" warning, "instead, they will see bombs go 'tap, tap, tap' on Iran's key facilities." He added, "If necessary, we will negotiate with bombs, and the United States is very good at that."
On the same day, President Trump presided over a security meeting in the White House Situation Room attended by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. According to Axios, the meeting discussed short, large-scale strike options to pressure Iran to change its negotiating posture. Trump was said to be displeased after Iran failed to respond for nearly two weeks to a proposal he put forward. "We hit Iran hard yesterday, and we will hit hard again today," he said, adding, "they keep treating us like fools."
The latest clashes were sparked when a U.S. Army Apache helicopter was shot down by an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. military immediately launched retaliatory airstrikes destroying Iran's air defenses and radar sites, and Iran responded by firing missiles and drones at U.S. bases. Alongside military strikes, the United States also tightened a maritime blockade to choke Iran economically. U.S. Central Command said it disabled the tanker Sete Velo in the Gulf of Oman after it defied a port blockade order and transported crude. Trump expressed confidence in the blockade operation, calling it "the most successful operation in naval history."
Iran pushed back hard, vowing to fight to the end. Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized on social media Trump's remarks about striking infrastructure such as power plants and bridges, calling them "evidence of the despair felt in the face of (Iran's) national resolve." As signs grew that the dispute could escalate into full-scale war, global concern mounted. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned strongly at a Security Council meeting, "We must not underestimate the risk that a small spark could ignite a full-blown war."