President Trump has been advised that launching a large-scale military strike against Iran would be unlikely to topple the regime and could spark a wider regional conflict, according to U.S. officials, prompting him to delay any decision while monitoring how Tehran handles ongoing protests.
Military advisers told Trump that the United States would need to deploy additional firepower to the Middle East both to execute a major strike and to protect American forces and allies like Israel from potential Iranian retaliation, the officials said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the U.S. had learned of Iranian plans to execute 800 people, though those executions did not occur, and she did not specify how the administration obtained that intelligence.
The president faces competing advice from within his administration, with some senior aides, including Vice President JD Vance, urging diplomatic engagement before any military response to Iran’s crackdown on protesters that has killed hundreds of demonstrators.