Trump Convenes Secret Situation Room Meeting to Plan Major Iran Military Offensive

The President is very serious about a new course against the terror regime.

Axios’ Barak Ravid, citing sources familiar with the discussions, reports that President Donald J. Trump convened a Situation Room meeting yesterday to review plans for a broader military campaign against Iran, extending beyond the ongoing strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

The meeting took place after three consecutive days of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) strikes targeting Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping and before the fourth round of strikes began today, as the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports was set to take effect.

In an interview with Fox News ahead of the meeting, Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran “hard” over the coming days, warning that if Tehran does not negotiate, “next week comes the power plants… next week comes the bridges.” He also confirmed the U.S. is monitoring activity at Pickaxe Mountain, an underground site suspected of supporting Iran’s nuclear program, and warned it could be targeted if necessary.

Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz an inviolable “red line” on Thursday, warning that any U.S. strikes on Iranian infrastructure, including the power plants and bridges President Donald J. Trump has threatened to target, would trigger retaliatory strikes against critical… pic.twitter.com/lVQinqHRZ8

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 16, 2026

Barak Ravid: President Trump held a Situation Room meeting Tuesday to discuss a massive offensive in Iran that will be wider in scope than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, three sources with knowledge said. Trump appears willing to escalate the war to cause enough damage that the Iranian regime will open the Strait of Hormuz and accept Trump’s nuclear demands. Trump convened the meeting as the U.S. military conducted strikes in the Strait of Hormuz area and along the southern coast of Iran for the fourth day in a row. Most of the targets were air defense and radar systems, anti-ship missile positions and drone launch sites. U.S. officials said the aim of the strikes was to significantly degrade Iran’s ability to conduct attacks against ships in the Strait of Hormuz…. Despite the attacks, the U.S. military managed to coordinate the transit of 300 ships through the strait over the past week, U.S. officials said…. The sources said the meeting focused on new plans for devastating strikes on strategic targets in Iran, in addition to the strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz (Axios).

The U.S. is addressing the mullahs in language they understand.

CENTCOM: At 3 p.m. ET, U.S. forces launched operations for a second wave of strikes today against Iran. The strikes are targeting Iranian military capabilities used to threaten vessels freely transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway vital to global commerce. The U.S. military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief’s direction (CENTCOM).

Daily Mail: President Donald Trump huddled with top military brass in a high-stakes Situation Room meeting on Tuesday to plot a massive military offensive against Iran, three well-placed sources have revealed to Axios.

The plot is expected to dwarf current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, which has been hammered with airstrikes for four consecutive nights as the war hits its 137th day.

Among those present were Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine.

How far will we go? The president was asked if this means we’ll destroy the IRGC like we destroyed ISIS: Yeah, it does. We will see what’s happening. We received a call just as I was coming here that they want to meet. They always want to meet …  And now today we gave them a little daytime shot too. So, this should have been done not by me, this should have been done a long time ago, long before me (Rapid Response).

Pickaxe Mountain is the heavily fortified nuclear facility that we did not hit during the Operation Midnight Hammer that targeted nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Will the U.S. hit Pickaxe? President Trump was a guest of Hugh Hewitt on Monday. Hugh encourages Trump to “Go get Pickaxe Mountain.” President Trump: Okay, and we will do that. We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready. Hewitt: I will. We just did. Trump: Let them know we’re coming, okay? Hewitt: You just did. Trump: And there’s not a damn thing they can do about it (Hewitt).

Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: Top regime officials admit that Pickaxe Mountain is the “most fortified nuclear facility in the world.” We suspect that Iran already has moved centrifuges and other nuclear equipment into the site. Pickaxe must be destroyed before it’s too late (Dubowitz).

Iran is threatening: Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, threatened today that if the US  strikes Pickaxe Mountain, “the region will turn to hell” (X).