US President Donald Trump has ordered the military to launch a fresh attack on Iran that could begin as soon as this weekend and last a few days, US officials told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
In return, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Thursday further pledged retaliation following overnight American attack, removing chances of a political settlement between the US and Iran.
The WSJ said a fresh round of strikes on Iran could begin as soon as this weekend, as Trump warned Tehran would face heavy military action unless it returned to negotiations.
On Friday, Trump said he planned to hit Iran hard enough that they will eventually agree to abandon its nuclear program, according to the WSJ, which cited unnamed US officials.
The planned escalation follows an Iranian attack on troops in Jordan and a subsequent US retaliatory strike on Wednesday.
The report comes after the US President held a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday to discuss the ongoing war on Iran.
Also, a US official told Axios on Friday that Trump is seriously considering launching attacks against energy targets in Iran in the next few days, but hasn't given final orders to do it.
A new US bombing campaign in Iran against energy and infrastructure targets would be aimed at trying to get the Iranians to agree to the United States' terms in ongoing ceasefire negotiations.
The strikes could also involve the Israeli military for the first time in many weeks, and such an escalation would likely lead to Iranian missile attacks on Israel, Axios said.
At the start of Friday's Cabinet meeting, Trump alluded to the potential attack, saying: “Well, we'll be hitting them very hard and, you know, at some point they're going to say, we just can't take it anymore.”
He added that the more the US conducts strikes, the weaker the Iranians get “and then they peter out.”
“As President Trump said at his Cabinet meeting today, the United States will win, and Iran will not have a nuclear weapon under his watch,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Axios.
In return, Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, quoted a senior security official saying that US strikes on Iranian infrastructure targets would be “an act of madness.”
“We have prepared a broad response plan that includes strikes against the Zionist regime's critical infrastructure and US energy infrastructure in the region, and we are fully prepared to carry it out,” the Iranian security official told Tasnim.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday that, as of 31st July, US forces had rerouted 30 commercial vessels, disabled two ships, and boarded two others to verify full compliance with the naval blockade imposed on Iran.
In a statement, CENTCOM said US forces have continued to strictly enforce the naval blockade on Iranian ports since mid-July, adding that around 30 vessels had been allowed to pass through the blockade zone to deliver humanitarian assistance.
