Not just blocking the Strait of Hormuz! Trump’s inner circle plans a “larger-scale offensive,” vowing to target Iranian power plants and bridges next week

Three insiders told Axios that on Tuesday local time, Trump held a meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss an offensive against Iran on a scale far greater than the current strikes in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz. The goal is to force Tehran to reopen the strait and to make concessions on the nuclear issue. Trump publicly teased, “Next week it’s power plants, next week it’s bridges,” suggesting that the fighting will spread from the sea into Iran proper. According to Axios, as compiled by Reddit trend aggregator.
(Background: U.S. forces carried out their fourth straight night of airstrikes against Iran! In 7 hours, dozens of targets were hit hard—clashes in the strait and a blockade launched in sync)
(Additional context: One day, three ships struck! Iranian missiles attacked the Strait of Hormuz, choking off global 25% of the oil pipeline—risking U.S. military involvement)

The fighting may move from the sea to inside Iran. Three insiders told Axios that on Tuesday local time, Trump held a meeting in the White House Situation Room to discuss a large-scale offensive targeting Iran, with a scope broader than the strikes currently being carried out around the Strait of Hormuz. Trump appears to intend to escalate the conflict, using sufficiently severe destruction to force the Iranian regime to reopen the strait and accept the terms the U.S. is offering on the nuclear issue.

From squeezing the throat to breaking into the living room

The two levels are not the same. Currently, the U.S. strikes around the Strait of Hormuz are mainly aimed at suppressing the ability of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to attack merchant ships—squeezing the maritime throat. What the Situation Room is discussing this time is, beyond actions in the strait, launching devastating strikes against strategic targets inside Iran. In public, Trump said it plainly: “Next week it’s power plants, next week it’s bridges. We will knock out all their power plants, knock out all their bridges, unless they go back to the negotiating table.” A blockade of the strait is squeezing the throat; blowing up power plants and bridges is breaking into the living room—two completely different ways of applying pressure.

Targeting “Pickaxe Mountain” underground nuclear facilities

Another underlying goal of this offensive is Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. says it is closely monitoring suspicious activity by Iran at an underground facility known as “Pickaxe Mountain,” where the U.S. and Israel assess Iran wants to use it for its nuclear program—and at a depth sufficient to evade airstrikes. In other words, even if ground strikes are fully unleashed, facilities buried beneath the mountains are still tough nuts to crack. That is also one of the reasons Trump wants to apply pressure on a larger scale and force Iran back to the negotiating table.

The timing is also sensitive. The ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has already fallen apart. Recently, the U.S. has restarted a maritime blockade of Iranian ports, and the two sides have continued exchanging fire in the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the world’s seaborne oil; if the fighting flares up and spreads one more step into Iran’s territory, oil prices and geopolitical risk sentiment will likely price it in first for the market. Judging from the line “next week it’s power plants,” this conflict does not appear to be headed toward de-escalation—we will keep tracking developments.

Common Questions

How is Trump’s offensive this time different from the previous strikes in the Strait of Hormuz?

The earlier strikes focused on areas around the Strait of Hormuz, aiming to suppress Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ ability to attack merchant ships. This time, what was discussed in the Situation Room is a larger-scale offensive targeting strategic objectives inside Iran (such as power plants and bridges), with a clearly higher level of pressure.

Why does the Strait of Hormuz crisis move the crypto and financial markets?

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth to one-quarter of the world’s seaborne oil. Once hostilities intensify, oil prices and geopolitical risk sentiment often react first, which in turn suppresses short-term performance of risk assets such as Bitcoin.