Trump discusses military options against Iran with national security team

The White House hosted a high-level strategic meeting on Monday evening, where US President Donald Trump chaired a session with the Supreme National Security Team to discuss Iranian developments and military options, according to US sources revealed to Axios. The meeting was attended by key figures in the US administration, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. To Secretary of War Pete Higgseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Keane, and Director of Central Intelligence John Ratcliffe. The sources revealed that Trump had not made a final decision to launch military strikes before announcing the suspension of attacks, noting that he was “one hour away” from issuing the order. The US president explained that the decision to postpone came in response to requests from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and other countries that believe that they are close to reaching Trump has set a tight timeframe for Tehran to make a diplomatic breakthrough, saying the deadline extends “two or three days, maybe until Friday or Saturday or early next week.” He pointed out that there are "serious negotiations" underway, although a senior US official confirmed toAxios that the latest Iranian proposal did not show tangible progress. Uncertainty prevailed within the US administration, as many were surprised by the announcement of Trump, while a number of hawks in favor of hardening with Iran came away with the impression that the president was “in the mood to hit them hard to get them to negotiate.” Trump concluded his remarks with a veiled threat: “We may have to deal another strong blow to Iran. I'm not sure yet. You'll find out soon enough.”