Washington, DC [US], November 11 (ANI): U.S. President Donald Trump has settled on a third option in the conflict with Iran, choosing to intensify economic pressure on Tehran rather than resume military strikes or agree to a peace deal under terms Washington considers unacceptable, according to a report published by Axios.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio outlined the administration’s approach during a meeting with G7 foreign ministers on Tuesday, saying the American president is not limited to choosing between renewed military action and negotiating an agreement with Iran.
Instead, Washington intends to maintain its existing pressure campaign and further tighten financial restrictions on the Iranian regime, Axios reported.
“The President doesn’t just have two options. It’s not just returning to war or signing a ridiculous peace deal. We won’t do a stupid deal. The third option we have is to continue to do what we do now,” Rubio stated.
He argued that continuing the current strategy would impose mounting financial costs on Tehran without requiring Washington to establish a strict deadline for ending the pressure campaign.
The strategy centers on weakening Iran’s financial infrastructure to the point where the country struggles to fund armed groups or rebuild its military capabilities. Rubio also argued that Tehran was causing significant damage to its domestic economy by rejecting Washington’s conditions.
“The President is not under false time pressure, the Iranians are inflicting major damage on their own economy,” Rubio noted.
The strategic shift follows months of policy uncertainty surrounding the broader conflict, during which Trump repeatedly threatened devastating military action while maintaining that Tehran would eventually yield to Washington’s demands.
The geopolitical crisis has also become a domestic political liability, with Republican candidates suffering setbacks in the midterm elections.
An American official close to the administration told Axios that the president had been considering multiple options without immediately settling on the best course of action.
Trump indicated his preference for avoiding another round of military engagements following a meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Monday. He described the possibility of fresh strikes against Iranian targets as highly unlikely and unnecessary under current circumstances.
Instead, the administration plans to sustain its economic offensive and naval blockade while advancing a new operation titled “Iron Gate.” The operation is designed to dismantle ground transportation routes allegedly used to smuggle advanced weapons and technology.
According to administration sources cited by Axios, Rubio was among the principal architects of the strategy within Trump’s national security team. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe, and presidential adviser Jared Kushner also participated in the discussions.
Officials indicated that the group strongly opposed escalating the military campaign again, concluding that Tehran’s current negotiating position remained fundamentally incompatible with American interests. They advocated maintaining stringent financial pressure on the Iranian regime.
Rubio also expressed deep skepticism about the possibility of an immediate diplomatic breakthrough, arguing that Tehran’s preconditions for formal negotiations were unrealistic.
Speaking to journalists after the multilateral ministerial summit, he said that although Iranian authorities wanted an agreement, they had failed to present constructive proposals.
He suggested that prolonged financial pressure would eventually force Tehran to reconsider its position, arguing that mounting economic difficulties would become unsustainable for the country’s leadership.
“Eventually you have to eat,” Rubio remarked, suggesting that basic economic realities would eventually influence even the most uncompromising factions within Iran’s leadership.
However, the prolonged economic pressure has raised serious concerns among key U.S. international partners, including Turkey, Pakistan, and Iraq, an administration official told Axios.
These regional capitals reportedly have strong reservations about Washington’s preference for indefinite economic pressure over pursuing a stable, negotiated settlement. (ANI)
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