President Donald Trump on Thursday is set to receive a briefing from U.S. Central Commander Adm. Brad Cooper and other military leaders on potential strikes in Iran, Axios and Reuters reported overnight.
The reported briefing comes on the eve of a key deadline in the war: a 60-day legal timer requiring Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces unless Congress authorizes the military action, which it has not done.
It also comes as a testy ceasefire has so far failed to lead to a peace deal between Washington and Tehran. They have instead each focused on inflicting economic pain via the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for the global oil trade, trying to bring the other to heel.
But their efforts — Iran’s de facto stoppage of ship traffic through the strait, and the U.S.’s retaliatory naval blockade of Iranian ports — have resulted in a deadlock.
CENTCOM has prepared a plan for a “short and powerful” wave of strikes intended to break the logjam and force Iran to be more flexible with its demands, Axios reported Wednesday.
