Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads US Central Command, presented President Donald Trump with options for military action against Iran at the White House on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal as reported by Interfax. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine took part in the meeting, and a senior US official told Axios the talks went positively, without giving details. Senator Chris Murphy, who said senators had been briefed on the administration’s plan for a possible resumption of strikes, called the plan insane in a post on X and said it would lead to a new cycle of escalation without achieving Washington’s goals; he also noted reports that Trump intends to resume strikes after the November 3 congressional elections.
The military track is running alongside a diplomatic one: Iran has received a letter from Vice President JD Vance and has not yet replied, Arab News reported earlier on Thursday.
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The Guardian reported the terms of Vance’s letter in full. It is a personal letter offering to restart diplomacy, written after predominantly Qatari mediation and sent on Sunday to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, rather than to chief negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf or Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, because Washington judged that decision-making power rests with those closest to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The letter requires Tehran to commit on its nuclear programme at the start of a process that would lead to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, in return for US sanctions relief. The Guardian said a reply is imminent, that Tehran is reluctant to give upfront and irreversible nuclear commitments, such as exporting its highly enriched uranium stockpile, while the compensating US steps remain reversible, and that chief negotiator Ghalibaf has restated Iran’s seven conditions, including lifting sanctions, ending asset freezes and ending the war on all fronts, which the Guardian said requires an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon. The Guardian also identified the senator who called the renewed attack plan insane as Connecticut’s Chris Murphy, speaking at a Middle East Institute briefing.