President Donald Trump recently considered the possibility of launching a renewed large-scale military campaign against Iran but has, for now, decided to continue pursuing diplomacy, according to U.S. officials familiar with internal discussions who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.

According to the report, Trump held multiple meetings with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine to examine potential military options. While those conversations included plans for possible new operations, the president ultimately opted to continue giving negotiations a chance.

Officials familiar with the deliberations said the discussions included whether the United States should abandon the current diplomatic process in favor of a broad military offensive. Some within the administration characterized such an approach as “finishing the job.”

Despite keeping military action on the table, Trump reportedly told senior advisers that launching a major bombing campaign now could derail ongoing diplomatic efforts and undermine the broader goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The president has also signaled that he is prepared to allow negotiations to continue beyond the August 18 deadline that had been set for reaching a nuclear agreement, believing that additional time could improve the chances of a diplomatic breakthrough.

In the meantime, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is comfortable authorizing limited, targeted strikes against Iranian assets if Tehran breaches the existing agreements. That approach was put to the test over the weekend, when a series of confrontations threatened the fragile ceasefire reached just two weeks earlier.

Although military contingency planning is a routine part of Pentagon operations under any administration, the newspaper reported that these recent discussions underscore Trump’s effort to balance diplomacy with the credible threat of force. Administration officials acknowledged that a return to full-scale conflict would effectively amount to an admission that the administration’s widely promoted peace initiative had failed.

One administration official told The Wall Street Journal that Trump’s preference remains focused on diplomacy, adding that Iranian leaders would be well served by reaching an agreement with the United States. Neither Hegseth nor Caine commented on the private meetings.

The report comes on the heels of weekend clashes in which U.S. forces twice struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran allegedly violated the ceasefire.

On Saturday night, Trump cautioned that the United States could be compelled to “militarily complete the job” if Iran continued violating the ceasefire.

By Monday, however, the president announced that American and Iranian officials would meet in Qatar, despite earlier statements from Iran denying that such talks would take place.

Later reports indicated that U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was traveling to Doha to participate in the meetings with Iranian representatives.

{Matzav.com}