President Donald Trump has said he will soon decide whether to resume all-out war against Iran, after meeting his national security team for the first time since Republicans were swept from control of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The Iran war was a central issue in the midterm defeat, and the decision now facing Trump is the most consequential of his second term.
“We are going to make a decision now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, according to Axios and other outlets. He asked aloud whether the United States should launch further strikes “to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is completely dismantled” and “never appears again”, adding: “I would rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible, but maybe I will have to. You’ll know soon enough.”
Three options on the table
Two US officials told Axios the president is weighing three paths: a new round of military strikes, continued economic pressure on Tehran, or a negotiated deal that includes significant concessions to Iran. The meeting was part of his weekly intelligence briefing, and it was his first post-election session with senior national security advisers on Iran.
US Central Command has completed preparations for a possible resumption of major combat operations, according to a US official cited by Axios, though it has not yet received new orders from Washington. A key timing factor is the arrival of a third US aircraft carrier strike group: the USS Theodore Roosevelt is due to call at Singapore before reaching the region in mid-November.
Diplomacy runs in parallel
Diplomatic activity intensified on Thursday. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held calls with mediators from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt, while Qatari mediators discussed a draft two-day confidence-building proposal. Under that draft, the US would lift its naval blockade and release some frozen Iranian funds on day one, while Iran would invite inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to its bombed nuclear sites.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday and said Tehran would neither reopen the Strait of Hormuz nor negotiate until Washington meets its seven conditions. Trump had pledged on 8 October that there would be no attack on Iran before the midterm elections. That commitment has now expired.
Related coverage: Iran Says Hormuz Stays Shut Until Its Conditions Are Met | Khamenei Warns Fresh US Attacks Would Widen the War
Sources: Axios (via multiple outlets, 6 Nov 2026); Associated Press, “After midterm loss, Trump is left to weigh his next move in Iran war” (6 Nov 2026); Reuters/Fox News reporting on the White House meetings.
