Trump receives briefing from Middle East commander on military options against Iran
Meeting with Hegseth and the chief of staff comes after a similar meeting with the vice president and less than a week before the midterm elections.
BY THE X-TRADER NEWS NEWSROOM · REPORTING FROM FOX BUSINESS · 3 MIN
President Donald Trump reportedly received a briefing from the top American military commander in the Middle East on possible military options against Iran. The meeting was attended by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported from the White House.
The meeting comes after the vice president held a similar meeting on Wednesday following warnings to regional allies that the United States could resume attacks soon after the midterm elections. According to the Wall Street Journal, cited in the broadcast, Admiral Brad Cooper rarely gives in-person briefings to Trump, which could indicate that Washington is approaching significant military operations.
What the White House said
Last week, the president stated that the US may do "another small operation", citing the name Epic Fury. On Wednesday, asked if he planned new attacks on Iran after the election, he replied that he couldn't say, but that "anything is possible."
The vice president told journalist Jesse Watters that Trump will not allow an "forever war." Iran, in turn, has threatened to retaliate against American assets in the region and targets in the Gulf if the attacks are resumed.
General Keane's review
Fox News senior strategic analyst, retired four-star general Jack Keane, said the ceasefire, in effect intermittently since April 7, sought to open negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and that diplomacy "didn't work." According to him, the blockade and isolation of Iran have generated enormous economic pressure, but the country will never be completely closed, as it shares borders with seven countries and has 25 official crossing points, in addition to the Caspian Sea.
In Keane's assessment, the regime just wants to survive and would never fulfill an agreement. He said he believes the president never took the military option off the table and that as long as the regime is in power, the Iranian threat will not disappear. Economic pressure, he said, is not enough to cause the collapse of the regime, although the country could fail.
Keane further stated that the US has strengthened the defense of allies and partners in the region, including oil and gas infrastructure, and that, as he was told, American offensive capacity today is greater than at the beginning of the war. For him, it is possible to create conditions for the collapse of the regime with the combination of military and economic pressure.
Ukraine and the message for the market
On the other topic of conversation, Ukraine paused attacks on Russian refineries after pressure from the US. Keane said he disagreed with stopping Ukrainian attacks on oil capacity as long as Vladimir Putin continues to target civilians, and said the Ukrainian Army stopped him.
For the investor, the central point is uncertainty: the Strait of Hormuz, the energy infrastructure in the Gulf and the possibility of new attacks after the American elections remain geopolitical risk factors to be monitored, with the potential to influence oil, interest rates and the mood of the markets.
Automatically translated from Portuguese.
