President Donald Trump has directed the US military to launch a new attack on Iran as soon as this weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing unnamed US officials.

According to the newspaper, the objective of the strikes is to pressure Tehran into surrendering. The report emerged just hours after Trump publicly questioned the viability of ongoing negotiations with Iran, reiterating pledges of forceful retaliation following an attack on a US military base in Jordan.

"We'll be hitting them very hard," Trump stated during a Cabinet meeting on Friday. "And at some point they'll say we just can't take it anymore."

CBS News separately reported that the United States is weighing strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, including oil refineries and power plants — a step that would represent a significant escalation in the military campaign. Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, and any disruption to its energy sector would ripple through an already tight global market. Advocacy groups have warned that the deliberate bombing of civilian targets could constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit attacks on objects indispensable to civilian survival.

Following the CBS report, West Texas Intermediate crude rose above $86 per barrel in post-settlement trading on Friday afternoon.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt did not directly confirm reports of an imminent assault but issued a statement asserting that "Iran will continue to pay until they come to the table in, what President Trump deems, a meaningful way."

War Crime Concerns and Military Strain

The president has a pattern of threatening broad escalation before reversing course shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the prolonged conflict has depleted US munitions stocks, particularly air defense interceptors needed to protect bases from incoming attacks — a strain that has drawn concern from Pentagon planners about the readiness of US forces across multiple global theaters.

The war, which began on February 28 with coordinated massive airstrikes by the US and Israel, has produced far-reaching unintended consequences. Iran moved rapidly to essentially close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical transit route through which roughly one-fifth of global daily oil consumption normally passes. Although Iran's conventional armed forces proved unable to match American military capabilities, Tehran's drone and missile strikes against Persian Gulf neighbors disrupted commerce and daily life throughout the region.

Earlier in the week, Egypt was pulled into the conflict when two vessels transporting liquefied natural gas were hit by drones at the port of Damietta.

Oil prices have surged with each successive round of hostilities. Americans already burdened by rising costs for food, housing, and other essentials are now paying substantially more for gasoline. With control of Congress hanging in the balance ahead of November's midterm elections, polling indicates that voters broadly disapprove of Trump's handling of both the war and the economy.

Diplomatic Confidence at Rock Bottom

Speaking to reporters earlier on Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Trump said he was "losing faith in them because they do lie and do, they do misrepresent."

"And at some point they'll say we just can't take it anymore," he reiterated.

Trust between the two sides appears to have collapsed entirely. Iranian leaders have mirrored Trump's complaints, accusing the Americans of reneging on commitments and being untrustworthy. The breakdown comes against the backdrop of decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a history that has repeatedly thwarted sustained diplomatic engagement.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.