U.S. bombing Iran for second straight night
· Axios
The U.S. military launched strikes on Iran for the second consecutive evening. U.S. officials say the intent is to pressure Tehran to sign a deal, but the strikes also carry a risk of military escalation.
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The big picture: U.S. officials expect an Iranian response, possibly targeting U.S. bases, as took place on Tuesday night. President Trump has accused Tehran of "playing us for suckers" in negotiations, and decided something had to give.
- U.S. Central Command said the strikes began at 5:15 p.m. ET "against multiple targets in Iran... in response to Iran's unwarranted and continued aggression."
- A U.S. official told Axios all the targets were in southern Iran and include air defense systems, radars and drone command and control units.
Driving the news: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters during a visit to CENTCOM headquarters in Florida that "CENTCOM will be busy tonight because we are going to hit Iran hard."
- "Iran has a chance to make a great deal. They haven't been willing to do it," he said. "They are going to have tap, tap, tap bombs dropping on key facilities in Iran from the U.S. It is not to restart the war but to set the terms for a deal."
- "If we need to negotiate with bombs, we will negotiate with bombs," Hegseth said. "We will strike them hard tonight and hopefully Iran makes a good decision."
- Trump met with his national security team on Wednesday afternoon to discuss military options, hours after telling reporters the U.S. would "hit them again hard today," two U.S. sources said.
The other side: Iran's Tasnim news agency cited a military source as promising "heavy responses."
- Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's president claimed Trump's threats showed not strength, but "desperation."
- The U.S. struck Iranian radar and air defense sites on Tuesday evening in response to the downing of a U.S. helicopter, but those strikes were calibrated to avoid casualties and leave open the possibility of a deal.
- Iran responded by firing a relatively small number of missiles and drones toward U.S. bases.
Trump met on Wednesday with officials including Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and White House envoy Steve Witkoff, two U.S. sources said.
- Hegseth joined the meeting from CENTCOM headquarters.
- The sources said one option Trump was considering was an operation that is big in scale but short in duration, with the aim of pressing Iran to change its position in the negotiations. The sources did not provide specifics.
Behind the scenes: Trump had been growing increasingly frustrated over nearly two weeks of waiting for an Iranian response to his latest offer.