Trump Considering Another Two-Week Campaign of Strikes Against Iran, WSJ Reports

U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing plans for another two-week campaign of military strikes against Iran, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The report states that a U.S. military commander presented Trump with the proposal for an extended, two-week series of strikes.

According to the WSJ report, the recommendation comes from a U.S. commander outlining a plan to escalate strikes against Iranian targets over a sustained period.

At the time of the initial report, there were no credible accounts of explosions inside Iran. However, subsequent reports indicated that strikes had been carried out on the port of Sirik, located on Iran's southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical maritime chokepoint through which roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass daily, representing about a fifth of global daily consumption, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Any military activity in the vicinity has historically drawn close attention from energy markets, given the potential for supply disruptions. Iran has previously threatened to close the strait in response to Western pressure, a scenario that defense analysts regard as unlikely to be sustained but which could cause sharp short-term volatility.

The specific military objectives of a renewed two-week campaign remain unclear. The proposal comes against the backdrop of the long-running U.S.-Iran standoff that has included prior direct military exchanges, most notably the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani and Iran's subsequent ballistic missile attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad airbase in Iraq. Previous rounds of strikes between the United States and Iran have prompted fluctuations in global oil prices, as investors and analysts assess the risk of broader regional conflict.

The situation remains fluid, with the possibility of further developments.