According to US officials and people familiar with the meeting, the top US commander in the Middle East went to the White House on Thursday to personally report military options against Iran to President Trump. The US is weighing the restart of large-scale combat operations; such in-person reports are rare. Admiral Brad Cooper attended the meeting along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hugseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kane. People familiar with the matter said that other cabinet members attended the conference, and other topics were also discussed at the meeting. A person familiar with the matter said that prior to this high-level meeting, the White House had arranged a meeting between military officials and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday. The Trump administration has told the Gulf Arab countries that they are ready to launch a short, high-intensity military operation after the midterm elections. At the same time, the report said that Vance has also made contact with a key Iranian hardline figure to try to restart peace negotiations. While the White House was holding this consultation, some lawmakers issued a warning, fearing that Trump would soon restart the war with Tehran. Senator Chris Murphy of the Democratic Party of Connecticut said that he had heard briefings on some of the confidential proposals before and thought these plans were “very crazy.”

According to US officials and people familiar with the meeting, the top US commander in the Middle East went to the White House on Thursday to personally report military options against Iran to President Trump. The US is weighing the restart of large-scale combat operations; such in-person reports are rare. Admiral Brad Cooper attended the meeting along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hugseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Kane. People familiar with the matter said that other cabinet members attended the conference, and other topics were also discussed at the meeting. A person familiar with the matter said that prior to this high-level meeting, the White House had arranged a meeting between military officials and Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday. The Trump administration has told the Gulf Arab countries that they are ready to launch a short, high-intensity military operation after the midterm elections. At the same time, the report said that Vance has also made contact with a key Iranian hardline figure to try to restart peace negotiations. While the White House was holding this consultation, some lawmakers issued a warning, fearing that Trump would soon restart the war with Tehran. Senator Chris Murphy of the Democratic Party of Connecticut said that he had heard briefings on some of the confidential proposals before and thought these plans were “very crazy.”