After failed China push, will Trump resume Operation Epic Fury against Iran?

Dubai: President Donald Trump returned from China on Friday facing mounting pressure over Iran after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to produce any visible breakthrough on reopening the Strait of Hormuz or ending the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Instead, Washington is now openly signalling that military options are back on the table.

According to The New York Times, top US officials have drafted plans for renewed strikes against Iran if Trump decides diplomacy has failed. The report said US and Israeli forces are carrying out their largest preparations since the April 7 ceasefire, with possible renewed attacks being discussed as early as next week.

The renewed tensions come after Trump dismissed Iran’s latest proposal while flying back from Beijing.

“I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence I just throw it away,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One., Reuters reported

The US president said he discussed Iran with Xi, whose country relies heavily on oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. But Trump acknowledged he did not directly ask the Chinese leader to pressure Tehran.

China also stopped short of publicly committing to any concrete intervention, despite both Washington and Beijing wanting the strategic waterway reopened.

The Chinese foreign ministry merely said the conflict “should never have happened” and “has no reason to continue”.

Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial shipping after the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28. Although a ceasefire was announced on April 7, Tehran has continued linking any full reopening of the waterway to an end to the US naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Before the war, nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passed through the narrow strait.

Trump has repeatedly warned Iran that the US could resume military action if shipping does not return to normal.

“We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon, we want the straits open,” Trump said during his Beijing visit.

Netanyahu has also warned the war is “not over,” insisting Iran’s nuclear material and enrichment sites must still be eliminated before the conflict can truly end.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed this week that Washington has prepared both escalation and de-escalation plans.

“We have a plan to escalate if necessary,” Hegseth told lawmakers.

According to The New York Times, possible options include expanded bombing campaigns against Iranian military infrastructure and even special operations raids targeting deeply buried nuclear material at Isfahan.

US officials told the paper that several hundred Special Operations troops were deployed earlier this year specifically to preserve that option.

Despite the ceasefire, the US has kept a massive military presence in the region.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 50,000 troops, two aircraft carriers, Navy destroyers and dozens of combat aircraft remain ready for “major combat operations” if ordered.

The report said Iran has meanwhile restored access to most of its missile infrastructure, including 30 of the 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials have also warned they are prepared for renewed hostilities.

“Our armed forces are ready to deliver a well-deserved response to any aggression,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said earlier this week.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran remains open to diplomacy but does not trust Washington after previous negotiations were interrupted by military strikes.

The prolonged conflict is increasingly becoming a political burden for Trump ahead of US congressional elections later this year.

While the president has repeatedly declared the military campaign a success, critics note that Iran has neither surrendered its nuclear programme nor fully reopened Hormuz.

Oil prices rose again on Friday amid fears that the conflict could intensify further if diplomacy collapses entirely, Reuters reported.