Trump plots Iran strikes after peace talks collapse | US | News
Donald Trump is exploring options ranging from targeted strikes to a permanent naval blockade as he tries to force Iran back to the negotiating table after the collapse of peace talks in Pakistan, officials understood by the Express.
The failure of the Islamabad talks has left the White House scrambling to put pressure on, with a resumption of heavy bombing rejected as too destabilizing and politically costly – Trump’s core supporters have little appetite for another open-ended Middle East war. It is reported that, in addition to the blockade, a tighter, more targeted military operation is deemed more feasible. The same situation, together with the police burden placed on regional allies in the long term, also creates temporary pressure on the strait.
The president spent the day at his Doral club outside Miami, consulting on Fox News, playing golf and working the phones with his staff. Those around him told reporters that the door to diplomacy was not closed, even as Trump publicly doubled down on the blockade and revived warnings about striking Iran’s civilian energy grid.
“I hate to do this, but their water, their desalination plants, and their power generation facilities are things that are very easy to hit,” he told Fox News.
When asked about Trump’s next move, the White House shot down speculation.
“The President has already ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, ending Iran’s usurpation, and is wisely keeping all additional options on the table,” spokeswoman Olivia Wales said. “Anyone who tells The Wall Street Journal they know what President Trump will do next is pure speculation.”
Talks collapsed
According to the Wall Street Journal, JD Vance led the American delegation to Islamabad, and Iran’s refusal to compromise on its nuclear program ended the process. Trump has made clear that preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons is one of the primary justifications for military action.
Washington has revealed what it expects for the renewed negotiations to materialize: Unlimited passage through the Strait of Hormuz without tolls; complete cessation of uranium enrichment and physical dismantling of related facilities; abandoning existing stocks of highly enriched uranium; creating a broader regional security architecture; and cutting off financial aid lines to proxy groups, including Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
But there are indications that the channel is not completely dead. Trump suggested that Tehran was looking for a way to return to the table. Reza Amiri Moghadam, one of the senior figures on the Iranian side, stopped without closing the door. “The Islamabad Talks laid the foundation for a diplomatic process that can create a sustainable framework for the interests of all parties if trust and will are strengthened,” he said on social media. he wrote.
blockade strategy
Those who have studied the options say a naval blockade represents Trump’s least disastrous path forward, though it is far from risk-free. Oil and gas account for roughly half of Tehran’s state revenue; Cutting exports would hit the regime at its most vulnerable point and signal to nervous energy markets that Iran’s dominance over the strait is limited.
“We saw that this blockade strategy worked primarily in Venezuela, and Trump has an opportunity to replicate that here,” said Matthew Kroenig, a former Pentagon official now at the Atlantic Council. “I think this is a way to really increase the pressure on the regime and force them into some difficult dilemmas.”
The complications are real. Sanctions against Iran have been piling up for decades, but the capitulation sought by Washington has not been achieved and the regime shows no signs of breaking despite weeks of bombardment by American and Israeli forces. Any warship stationed in closed waters near the Iranian coastline would be a target target for missiles and drones, with response times measured in seconds rather than minutes.
