CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper, has recommended ending the US bombing campaign in the Strait of Hormuz after deciding the air campaign around the waterway had reached its limits and could not do much any more, according to two sources familiar with his assessment.
The recommendation, first reported by Axios, was among the several factors that supposedly influenced President Donald Trump’s decision on Friday to pause US strikes against Iranian targets.
The move marked an acknowledgement from both military and civilian advisors to the president that there is only so much he could do through military action, especially the continued air campaign, leading to Trump, for the first time in two weeks, ordering US forces to hold fire and not conduct strikes against Iranian targets around the southern coast of Iran and in the Strait of Hormuz area, following a meeting with top advisers and military officials who presented him with a new strike plan for the day.
According to the report, Trump had been leaning towards resuming major combat operations earlier in the week but began reconsidering his position on Thursday before deciding to pause the campaign on Friday.
Earlier in the week, Adm. Cooper presented his assessment to the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House, arguing that two weeks of strikes had significantly degraded Iran’s ability to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Furthermore, Adm. Cooper noted that the designated bombing targets had been mostly exhausted, after which he suggested that the next possible step would be to resume major combat operations to finish the 20 per cent of targets the US forces had identified but didn’t strike during Operation Epic Fury.
Without such a decision, Cooper argued there was little value in continuing the existing bombing campaign. CENTCOM spokesman Captain Tim Hawkins declined to comment on the report.
Separately, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine reportedly warned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump that shortages of air defence interceptors could reduce the military’s ability to protect US forces and allies in the region. The warning was previously reported by The New York Times. A spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs declined to comment on confidential military advice provided to the president.
For now, both sides appear to have paused military operations with US Ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz, telling NBC on Sunday that while Trump was “keeping all options on the table”, the president was also “giving talks some space”.
Waltz added that discussions between Washington and Tehran were continuing “on every level”.
