Trump Hosts Situation Room Talks on Fresh Strikes as Iran Activates Air Defences

Donald Trump convened his most senior national security officials in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a new wave of military strikes against Iran, according to multiple sources. The meeting, which included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, focused on a proposal for a broad but brief offensive designed to pressure Tehran into altering its stance at the negotiating table. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth joined remotely from Central Command headquarters in Tampa, while Russian coverage noted the presence of Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, signalling the wide diplomatic and military aperture of the discussions.

Hours before the session, Trump had told reporters that US Central Command would be “engaged tonight”, with attacks that would be “powerful and clear”. The threat was promptly amplified by Iranian state-affiliated media, with the Mehr news agency reporting the activation of air defence systems west of the capital Tehran. Lebanese outlets close to Iran’s axis of resistance described an attack that very night as “very likely”, reflecting a region bracing for immediate escalation.

Viewed from Washington, the choreography is of a piece with Trump’s longstanding pattern of coercive diplomacy—oscillating between maximal threats and appeals for dialogue. The short-duration, large-scale model evokes previous planning for “shock and awe” campaigns, calibrated to deliver a decisive psychological blow without triggering a sustained war. European analysts note, however, that the concentration of the full national security team in the Situation Room underscores the gravity of the moment, as the administration tests how far it can push Iran without igniting a wider conflagration.

From Tehran, the activation of air defences is both a practical precaution and a signal of resolve. Should the United States proceed with strikes, the Iranian leadership faces a stark choice: absorb the attack and return to diplomacy, or retaliate through proxies or its own Revolutionary Guard forces. The coming hours will reveal whether the Situation Room’s deliberation translates into a new phase in the long-running shadow war between the two powers, or merely another turn in the cycle of threat and defiance.