Donald Trump is considering expanding US military operations against Iran after receiving days of briefings from senior advisers, according to US officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. The options under consideration include intensifying air strikes, deploying ground forces to seize Iranian islands near the Strait of Hormuz, and bombing a heavily fortified site that may be used for covert nuclear activities.

On Tuesday night, Trump convened a meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss the possible seizure of Kharg Island and other territories along the Strait of Hormuz using US forces, as well as the potential bombing of a network of tunnels at Pickaxe Mountain — a site linked to Iran’s nuclear programme that has not previously been targeted by the United States. At the same time, the possibility of expanding air strikes to additional targets inside Iran remains open, including energy infrastructure.

According to sources, the meeting was one of several official and unofficial discussions Trump has held in recent days with senior officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and General Dan Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The US military announced that on Wednesday it launched two waves of air strikes against Iran, targeting Tehran’s ability to threaten vessels travelling through the Strait. “We’ll see whether we end up making a deal with them or whether we just finish it,” Trump said at a business event shortly after the second wave of attacks began.

At the same time, US armed forces are enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports, moving several vessels away from the coastline on Wednesday. In one case, the military said it fired Hellfire missiles at the funnel of a Curaçao-flagged vessel that was attempting to approach Kharg Island. According to the official account, the ship ignored warnings to change course and was therefore immobilised.

Diplomatic deadlock and pressure for escalation

Although the US president has not made a final decision on the next steps in the war, officials say that both privately and publicly he continues to insist that he would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the dispute with Iran. However, Tehran has not yielded to Trump’s demands that it surrender its nuclear stockpile, despite weeks of military strikes and an interim agreement that would have allowed Iran to earn billions of dollars from oil sales on the international market.

The diplomatic deadlock has prompted Trump to ask his advisers for new escalation options that could force Iran to capitulate or, at the very least, commit to halting attacks on commercial vessels in the strait.

Some US officials have noted that Trump appears reluctant to commit ground forces. In the past, he has repeatedly stepped back from his most forceful public threats, including the seizure of Kharg Island and taking control of Iran’s oil industry.

However, if Trump ultimately approves these plans, it would mark the most dangerous phase of a war that has lasted almost five months, drawing the United States deeper into an escalating conflict in the Middle East. Such a development would likely lead to higher fuel prices and complicate Republican planning for the midterm elections.

Trump has made clear statements about the war in recent days, confirming that he is considering new military options. Although officials say he is leaning towards expanding operations, he could still change his mind. In addition, publicly discussing these options may serve as a means of applying pressure, in an attempt to intimidate Iran and bring it back to the negotiating table.

“We will neutralise Pickaxe Mountain,” Trump said this week in a radio interview.

On Tuesday, shortly before the Situation Room meeting, Trump told Fox News that seizing Kharg Island was unlikely, but not impossible.

“If we weaken them enough and deeply enough, I would do that,” he added.

Wednesday’s strikes marked the fifth consecutive day of attacks on Iran following the collapse of an interim peace agreement, which had lifted the US blockade on Iranian ports and suspended sanctions on Tehran’s oil sales. However, Trump declared the ceasefire over after Iran attacked vessels in the strait, reinstating the blockade and approving new strikes.

In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Vance said in a podcast that the strikes were intended to force Iran back to the negotiating table.

“We are not just going to bomb endlessly. We are going to try to use our military power as one of the many tools we have available to solve the problem,” Vance said.

Risks of Operations Targeting Pickaxe Mountain and Kharg Island

Giving the “green light” to an operation against either Pickaxe Mountain or Kharg Island would represent Trump’s riskiest gamble in this conflict.

The situation at Pickaxe

Pickaxe is a heavily fortified underground site consisting of tunnels carved into granite, located 90 to 145 metres beneath the surface of a mountain peak — far deeper than Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow, which were bombed by the United States and Israel last summer.

The site is believed not to have been completed yet.

The extreme depth of the tunnels at Pickaxe means they may not be vulnerable to direct strikes from the US military’s bunker-busting bombs. While US attacks on Fordow in 2025 targeted ventilation shafts leading directly into the facility’s halls, publicly available satellite images have not revealed the precise locations of any ventilation systems at Pickaxe.

This does not necessarily mean that the facility has no weak points. Its ongoing construction means it remains dependent on external power supplies, equipment deliveries and technical personnel — factors that could provide easier targets for sabotage.

“If they make any move” to turn Pickaxe into an operational nuclear facility, “we will intervene immediately and do whatever we have to do, but they have not done that,” Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.

“Nobody knows whether they are even doing anything at Pickaxe, it is simply an issue that has come up,” he added.

Trump nevertheless said that US bunker-busting bombs “can reach great depths”.

Kharg Island

An attempt to seize Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, would severely damage the country’s oil industry, but would also place US forces in immediate danger.

According to US officials and analysts, troops deployed there would become easy targets for Iranian missiles and drones.

Despite the risks, retired Marine General Frank McKenzie said the United States should consider such an operation.

“It is something we should think about doing, because control of Iranian territory would represent an important bargaining chip in future talks with Iran,” he said on Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation programme.

Trump is also considering ideas for seizing other islands along the Strait of Hormuz, with the aim of facilitating maritime traffic and neutralising heavily militarised territory.

Analysts point to Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb islands as the most likely targets.

However, US troops would also be extremely vulnerable at these locations, according to officials and analysts.