Trump Meets Officials on New Iran Strikes as Tehran Says Force Will Not Restart Talks

President Trump met Tuesday with top administration officials and envoys to discuss a major new offensive against Iran, The Independent reported. The session focused on plans for harsher strikes to force the Iranian regime to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and meet U.S. nuclear demands.

Trump has hinted that new strikes could extend to civilian infrastructure including bridges and power plants unless Iran returns to talks. " U.S. military actions had previously centered on limited attacks on Iranian threats around the strait.

Those strikes followed U.S. accusations that Iran had hit ships in the waterway, prompting Iranian strikes on neighbors and commercial shipping. Trump stated that the U.S. military has sunk Iran’s navy.

The U.S. government said recent strikes on coastal cities and islands aim to degrade Iranian capabilities used to attack commercial shipping. Iran effectively closed the strait to international traffic in the early days of the conflict that began in February.

A ceasefire was declared in April, and a memorandum of understanding signed in June called for ending hostilities and allowing 60 days of talks on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions relief. Trump has secured another 60 days to use military force without congressional approval.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said it would be a “mistake” to think military actions and an economic blockade could bring Iran back to talks.

Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy said in June that the interim agreement left Iran’s nuclear ambitions unchecked and showed that threatening the strait works.