Reports said U.S. President Donald Trump received a plan from the military leadership to resume full-scale airstrikes against Iran but chose to continue diplomatic talks.
The U.S. daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 30th (local time), citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter, that President Trump recently met several times with defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Dan Caine to discuss additional strikes against Iran and the possibility of restarting a full-scale war.
The core of the discussion was whether the United States would halt talks with Iran and resume a large-scale military operation. According to the WSJ, some officials described it as "finishing the remaining work."
Trump has not made a final decision, but he was said to have indicated that additional full-scale attacks could derail diplomatic efforts and ultimately harm the U.S. chance to dismantle Iran's nuclear program.
Officials said Trump is satisfied with a one-off retaliatory strike only when Iran violates a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Trump also reportedly told aides he would not mind if talks continue past Aug. 18, the deadline for a nuclear deal.
Publicly, Trump maintains that talks are proceeding smoothly and that he still has military options if negotiations collapse.
He recently told reporters, "They (Iran) are agreeing to everything I want, and they have no choice but to do so," adding, "If not, we will just go back and do what we have to do."
However, some U.S. officials were concerned that restarting a full-scale war could effectively acknowledge that the Iran deal, which Trump had heavily promoted, had failed.