Donald Trump met with senior national security officials Monday to discuss whether the United States should escalate military pressure on Iran after negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program and regional conflict reached what the president described as "life support."
The meeting, first detailed by Axios and confirmed by U.S. officials familiar with the discussions, underscored the increasingly fragile state of diplomacy between Washington and Tehran following weeks of deadlocked negotiations, military brinkmanship and economic confrontation centered on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's uranium stockpile.
According to Axios, Trump still prefers reaching a negotiated settlement but has begun weighing limited military measures aimed at forcing Iran back toward U.S. terms. One U.S. official told the outlet the administration could increase pressure on Tehran militarily because "He will tune them up a bit."
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump signaled mounting frustration with Iranian negotiators and accused Tehran of reversing earlier positions involving enriched uranium transfers.
"Two days ago, they said, 'You're going to have to take it,'" Trump said. "But they changed their mind because they didn't put it in the paper."
The president dismissed suggestions that the administration lacked a coherent strategy for ending the standoff. "It's a very simple plan: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said, describing it as "the best plan ever."
At the center of the dispute is Washington's insistence that Iran surrender or neutralize significant portions of its enriched uranium stockpile as part of a broader agreement involving sanctions relief and maritime security guarantees. Iranian officials, meanwhile, have characterized U.S. demands as unilateral and unrealistic.
Esmail Baghaei accused Washington of approaching negotiations with "one-sided views" and making "unreasonable" and "excessive demands." He argued Tehran's proposal remained "reasonable and generous not only for Iran's national interests, but also for the good and well-being of the region and the world."
Iranian state-linked reporting indicated Tehran wants the U.S. maritime blockade lifted immediately upon signing a memorandum of understanding, followed by a 30-day negotiation process focused on sanctions relief and the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad.
Notably, Iranian media reports did not clarify whether Tehran would agree to major concessions regarding its nuclear infrastructure or uranium enrichment capacity, a central demand of both Washington and Israel.
The possibility of renewed U.S. military operations has also reentered the discussion. One option reportedly under consideration involves restoring "Project Freedom," the naval operation designed to guarantee commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran attempted to disrupt shipping routes in the region.
Trump suspended the operation last week ahead of Tehran's latest response package, apparently hoping diplomatic momentum could still be preserved. The administration is now reconsidering whether military leverage may be necessary to narrow the gap between the two sides.
The tensions have been amplified further by increasingly aggressive rhetoric from Israeli leadership. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel could potentially take direct action against Iran's nuclear stockpile if diplomacy fails.
"You go in and you take it out," Netanyahu said when discussing Iran's enriched uranium reserves, comments likely to intensify concerns about a broader regional escalation involving Israeli military operations inside Iranian territory.
