Iran's Military Says It Expects US to Resume Strikes as Trump Calls Himself in a Deciding Mode

Iran's central military command said Sunday it has received intelligence that the United States has decided to resume strikes on the Islamic Republic, according to a statement from the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters carried by state media IRNA and reported by Al Jazeera and ZeroHedge. The statement claimed the decision came with a "green light from certain regional countries" during a meeting in a European nation, though no independent source has confirmed that meeting took place.

Tehran warned that any US ally that allows its territory to support a renewed attack will be "considered complicit" and threatened "continuous, effective and painful attacks" on American bases and interests "without any limitation or consideration," per the IRNA statement cited by LiveMint.

President Trump told Fox News on Sunday he is in a "deciding mode" on Iran, with options including further military action, continued economic pressure, or a negotiated deal, according to Al Jazeera. He said he'd be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Tehran Sunday evening for New York, with a stopover in Qatar, state media said.

Tehran's messaging is split down the middle. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told lawmakers Sunday that Iran should use military force to gain leverage before turning to diplomacy, Al Jazeera reported. Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Hajibabaei went further Monday, telling colleagues "we must attack America's economic strongholds in the region" and ruling out any US deal outright, according to Iran International. Meanwhile Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told Bloomberg, as relayed by LiveMint, that Doha has heard assurances from US officials that Washington still wants an agreement, and that Qatari mediators have spent roughly two weeks shuttling proposals between capitals.

Iran's conditions for talks, sent through Qatari and Pakistani mediators, include an end to US attacks, release of frozen Iranian funds, and lifting of the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, Al Jazeera reported. Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz will stay closed until Washington meets what Iran calls its prior commitments.

Claims of disabled US bases, unverified

IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi said Monday that most US military bases surrounding Iran have been "knocked out of action" by Iranian missile and drone strikes, forcing Washington to relocate personnel to more distant sites like Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, according to Iran International. Mohebbi called the conflict a "historic and humiliating defeat" for the US and Israel and threatened to introduce unspecified new weapons in any renewed fighting. He also denied any IRGC contact with Washington. Separately, LiveMint's live coverage said the IRGC claims to have shot down a US MQ-1 drone over the Strait of Hormuz.

None of these specific claims have been independently verified. This pattern held during Iran's earlier retaliatory strikes on US bases in Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE following a CENTCOM strike on IRGC positions inside Iran on September 1, according to iranwire. The IRGC claimed to have killed multiple US service members and destroyed aircraft at Jordan's Prince Hassan Air Base. Jordan's own account differed sharply: officials said 13 ballistic missiles entered its airspace, 10 were intercepted, three landed in uninhabited areas, and there were no casualties. A US official directly disputed Iran's heavy-casualty claims, per iranwire. Kuwait and Kurdistan Region authorities confirmed intercepting drones and missiles but would not confirm Iran's claims about damage or deaths.

The damage that is confirmed

A Pentagon inspector general report found that US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, and Jordan sustained real damage, with hundreds of buildings and structures destroyed or damaged and the Defense Department estimating $3.7 billion in lost equipment, according to a CBS News report cited by i24NEWS. A deployed service member told CBS the full scope had not been communicated to the American public: "We're standing there with our eyes closed getting punched in the face." A photo obtained by CBS showed a Boeing E-3 Sentry radar plane at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia with its tail severed from a burned fuselage. Camp Buehring in Kuwait, a major US Army staging area, also sustained extensive damage.

The economic toll and the open question

The war, which the Times of India dates to US and Israeli strikes that began in February 2026, has cut Iran's GDP by more than 10% according to official Iranian statistics cited by the outlet. Houthi forces have used the chaos to expand territorial gains in Yemen and strike Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, while tightening control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Reuters, citing consultancy Energy Aspects, reported Europe faces a fourth-quarter jet fuel shortfall of 510,000 barrels a day, against surpluses in the US and Asia Pacific, the Times of India noted.

Those pushing restraint have a real argument: resuming US strikes risks the kind of broader regional war that is already squeezing global fuel supplies and closing shipping lanes, with Iran's own lawmakers openly discussing strikes on US aircraft carriers. Those pushing pressure counter that Iran has kept attacking US bases and Saudi targets throughout, rejected a deal outright through Hajibabaei, and used the pause to rearm, which is why the State Department renewed its warning telling Americans to leave Iran "now" and warning of abrupt airspace closures, per LiveMint. ZeroHedge's coverage leaned into speculation that Trump's early return from Camp David signals imminent large-scale action, citing an unverified social media post, a framing not corroborated by Al Jazeera, LiveMint, or the Pentagon-sourced reporting from CBS News.

Trump is scheduled to attend the UN General Assembly in New York this week, where Araghchi is also headed. Whether the two sides meet, or whether Washington moves ahead with new strikes, remains unresolved as of Monday.