U.S. President Donald Trump ratcheted up the intensity of military strikes toward Iran, delivering a strong pressure message to "act in line with U.S. demands." However, he did not present a specific deadline for a cease-fire agreement, leaving room on the surface for a diplomatic resolution.
According to major outlets on the 15th local time, the U.S. military carried out large-scale airstrikes for a second day, targeting Iran's coastal defense facilities and missile bases. At a defense-related event in Pennsylvania that day, President Trump said, "I don't like setting deadlines, but they understand the situation well," and warned, "It would be better to act properly." Following his hint the previous day at the possibility of attacking civilian infrastructure such as Iranian power plants, it is seen as another ultimatum-like message.
In fact, the Trump administration is reviewing plans to significantly expand military operations if Iran does not quickly agree to a deal. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that at the White House Situation Room recently, Trump was briefed by his aides on options including expanding airstrikes on key energy facilities inside Iran and deploying ground troops to seize strategic strongholds such as Kharg Island. The Trump administration has also included as an option a plan to bomb the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel, a nuclear-related facility buried deep underground in Iran's interior. Experts said the intent is to shake the foundations of the Iranian regime with force if diplomacy fails.
A senior U.S. military official told Reuters that the airstrikes on the 15th were "shaping operations" to prepare for full-scale military action to come. According to military experts, shaping operations are used to neutralize defenses before ground force deployments or large-scale bombing, widening military options. That day, the U.S. military focused on degrading air defenses, striking indiscriminately not only near Iran's sole civilian nuclear plant in the southern port city of Bushehr but also Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island.
Iran is steeling for a fight to the end, standing firm. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker who heads Iran's cease-fire negotiating delegation, issued a statement to the public on the 15th and defined the current conflict with the United States as "an existential war on which the nation's survival depends." He declared, "If the United States violates its obligations and Iran gains nothing, we also have no reason to abide by the agreement." He made clear that Iran will not bow to U.S. pressure, pursuing a two-track strategy of negotiations alongside armed resistance.
Iran's Foreign Ministry also reaffirmed a hard-line stance and dismissed the possibility of compromise. Esmail Baghaei, the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, said, "We have no plans to talk to the United States immediately and are devoting all our efforts solely to national defense." Rather than seeking a diplomatic solution, the message is that Iran will firmly build defensive lines against immediate U.S. military pressure. Iran's military authorities retaliated for strikes on its territory by launching drone and missile attacks targeting U.S. assets deployed in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to keep the Strait of Hormuz tightly shut until the United States halts hostile acts. Speaker Ghalibaf also said, "Today, national security depends on maintaining an 'Iranian order' in the Strait of Hormuz," repeatedly expressing his resolve not to cede maritime control. Experts predicted that amid the risk of full-scale war, with both the United States and Iran sticking to brinkmanship without yielding an inch, tensions in the Middle East are likely to remain at a peak for the time being.