Coinciding with the fourth consecutive day of U.S. strikes on Iran, Axios reported that U.S. President Donald Trump held a meeting in the White House Situation Room on Tuesday to discuss a "massive attack" on Iran that would be broader than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, citing three informed sources.

According to Axios, Trump appears prepared to escalate the war in an effort to inflict enough damage to pressure the Iranian regime into reopening the Strait of Hormuz and accepting his nuclear demands.

Most of the current U.S. strikes have targeted air defense systems, radar installations, anti-ship missile sites, and drone launch facilities.

U.S. officials said the objective is to significantly weaken Iran's ability to launch attacks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

In response, Iran continued launching missiles and drones at U.S. bases in Jordan, Kuwait, and Bahrain, while the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

Ships sailing near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the UAE in Khor Fakkan (July 13, 2026, AFP).

The Axios report added that Trump met with senior national security officials in the White House Situation Room, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and other senior officials.

Sources said the meeting focused on new plans for launching destructive strikes against strategic targets inside Iran, in addition to targeted attacks on Iranian positions around the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the meeting, Trump told Fox News that the strikes would expand in the coming days.

He said the U.S. military would strike Iran "forcefully" over the next three days, before adding that the campaign could escalate significantly afterward.

Trump said: "Next week, the situation will worsen for them because we will target power stations and bridges. We will destroy all their power stations and bridges unless they sit at the negotiating table."

President Donald Trump. (AFP)

Will Trump Strike the 'Axe Mountain' Nuclear Site?

Trump said the United States is monitoring suspicious activity at "Axe Mountain," an underground site that the United States and Israel believe Iran intends to use for its nuclear program and that is widely believed to be protected from conventional air strikes, according to Axios.

He added that U.S. bunker-buster munitions are capable of penetrating deep underground, while claiming that "no one knows" whether the mountain is truly impervious to such an attack.

The Axe Mountain facility.

On the U.S.-Iran negotiations, Trump said his negotiators spoke with Iranian officials on Tuesday, delivering a message urging Tehran to return to the negotiating table. He added: "I told them: you'd better reach an agreement, or else you will have nothing left."