US President Donald Trump discussed the Iran war in a meeting with his senior national security team on Friday morning and suggested that Washington is seriously considering renewing its military strikes against Tehran should negotiations fail.
Speaking to Axios, two officials said that Trump is becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in talks with the Islamic Republic, and has been weighing military action unless a last-minute diplomatic breakthrough emerges, which is seeming increasingly unlikely as of now.
The White House security meeting took place on Friday when Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, travelled to the Islamic Republic in a seeming last-ditch effort to patch things between Washington and Tehran, and prevent a return to war.
Alongside Pakistan, a delegation from Qatar also arrived in Tehran on Friday to support mediation efforts, amid diplomacy’s chances of success looking extremely thin.
Munir is expected to meet IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi on Saturday, who is considered one of the key figures behind Tehran’s strategic decision-making.
According to a US official familiar with the diplomacy taking place behind-the-scenes, the negotiations are an “agonising” process, stating that the draft proposals were “going back and forth every day,” though with very little actual progress.
According to officials, Trump’s meeting included Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine did not attend as they were in Europe and at the Naval Academy graduation ceremony, respectively.
Officials said Trump was briefed on the state of negotiations and possible scenarios if diplomacy collapses.
Several hours later, the White House announced changes to Trump’s weekend schedule. After a planned speech in New York City on Friday evening, the president will return directly to Washington instead of spending the weekend at his Bedminster golf club.
Taking to Truth Social, he further announced that he would not attend his son Don Jr.’s wedding because of what he described as urgent government responsibilities.
“I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time,” Trump wrote.
Sources close to the president said Trump had become increasingly dissatisfied with the negotiations over recent days.
On Tuesday, he reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted to give diplomacy another shot, though by Thursday night he appeared to be more disillusioned, seeming more inclined toward military action.
As per one Axios source, Trump had discussed the possibility of a final “decisive” military operation after which he could declare victory and end the conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday, that though negotiations were continuing, no agreement was close yet.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, quoting a source close to Tehran’s negotiating team as saying discussions on disputed issues were still ongoing and no final outcome had been reached.
The source said Tehran’s immediate focus was only on “ending the war”, with no plans to discuss any broader issues until its objectives were achieved.
Despite repeated moments over the past six weeks when Trump appeared close to restarting military operations before stepping back, some officials involved in the talks still believe a narrow window for a breakthrough remains open over the next 24 hours.
However, people familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president now appears increasingly inclined toward military action unless negotiations produce some actual concrete results.
