The US government still leaves open the option of a military strike against Iran, but hopes for a dialogue with Tehran. President Donald Trump indicated that he would hold talks with the Iranian leadership, but at the same time sent another warship to the region, the newspaper "Welt" reported, BTA writes in the press review.
At the premiere of a documentary about his wife Melania Trump in Washington, Trump answered a journalist's question about possible negotiations with Tehran. "I intend to do it, yes", said the US president.
And more: "We have very large, very powerful ships currently heading towards Iran and it would be great if we didn't have to use them". Trump, however, did not provide details about the nature or timing of the possible dialogue. He also did not say who would lead the negotiations on behalf of Washington.
After the brutal suppression of the latest protests in Iran, the United States did not rule out a new military operation against the country and sent warships, such as the aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln", to the region. According to Reuters and CBS, another destroyer arrived there yesterday. This brings the total number of warships in the region to ten.
Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth said that the military is now awaiting Trump's orders: "We are ready to carry out anything that the president asks the War Department," Hegseth said.
According to the "New York Times", which refers to government sources, Trump has been presented with various options for military strikes in recent days, but he has not yet made a decision. Additional options are still being developed and discussed. There is still no consensus on the purpose of any military action.
The newspaper lists three options that have been discussed so far. The riskiest would be to send US troops to Iran to destroy those parts of the nuclear facilities that survived US air strikes in June. However, Trump has also publicly referred to the failed special operation to free 52 hostages in Iran in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter, calling it a "cautionary tale".
Another option would be a series of military strikes against targets of the Iranian leadership, with the aim of removing the 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with the support of Iranian forces. It remains to be seen, however, whether potential successors would be more willing to cooperate with the United States on this strategy.
According to the "New York Times", Israel is urging the U.S. government to consider a third option: joint air strikes against Iran's missile program. Intelligence suggests that Iran has largely restored the program since the 12-day war with Israel in June. Iran has been using these missiles to threaten Israel.
Whether negotiations with Iran will continue is questionable. In 2015, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States - along with Germany and the EU, struck a deal with Iran that was intended to allow the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
In 2018, during Trump's first term, the United States withdrew from the deal - partly because of weak oversight and because Iran continued to work on its conventional missile program. Trump has since been a vocal critic of the agreement, which ultimately collapsed in 2025 with Iran's withdrawal.
"As commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world, President Trump has many options with respect to Iran," a White House spokeswoman told the "New York Times". "The president said he hopes no action will be necessary, but the Iranian regime must reach an agreement before it is too late."
And the "Frankfurter Rundschau" seeks an answer to the question of whether there will really be a military confrontation between the United States and the regime in Tehran and how the US armed forces could proceed.
The aircraft carrier "Abraham Lincoln" is already in the Persian Gulf, and ten warships have taken up positions. But experts suspect that this armada may simply be a distraction tactic. The real strike against Iran may come from B-2 bombers, which last year destroyed Iranian nuclear facilities, the newspaper writes.
"Frankfurter Rundschau" recalls the successful "Midnight Hammer" operation from June 2025, when B-2 bombers destroyed the underground nuclear facilities at Fordow and Natanz with 14 bunker-busting bombs. Six B-2 bombers demonstratively flew over the Pacific Ocean to Guam - as a distraction. In fact, the bombings were carried out by aircraft that secretly flew from Missouri across the Atlantic. The question is whether a similar distraction can be repeated now. While the flotilla around the "Abraham Lincoln" is attracting all the attention, stealth bombers may now be secretly landing at the US base in Diego Garcia or elsewhere.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made the threat more specific: "If we have evidence that an attack on our troops in the region is imminent, we will act to protect our personnel in the region", he told the US Senate. Approximately 30,000 US troops are stationed at eight or nine sites - all within range of Iranian missiles, the "Frankfurter Rundschau" points out.
US President Donald Trump has escalated his rhetoric: "Time is running out. The next attack will be much worse", he warned via the social network "Truth Social". His message, according to the "Frankfurter Rundschau" is: Negotiate a nuclear deal or face a repeat of "Operation Midnight Hammer".
"Forbes" magazine identifies the likely targets: command centers around Ayatollah Khamenei, remaining nuclear facilities and Revolutionary Guard command centers. Unlike the first attack, this time Trump could go directly to Iran's top leadership. The magazine points out that B-2 bombers are the only aircraft in the world capable of carrying heavy "bunker-busting" bombs, which can penetrate 300 feet of rock and concrete - enough to destroy any Iranian bunker complex.
"The Washington Post" seeks an answer to the question of what mission the "massive armada", as US President Donald Trump himself described it on the social network "Truth Social", was sent to the Persian Gulf region.
The newspaper recalls that Trump initially abandoned a strike against Iran after hearing concerns from foreign allies and military advisers who feared that the US military presence in the region was insufficient to repel a potential response from Tehran. But Washington sent the "Abraham Lincoln" aircraft carrier strike group, modern reconnaissance aircraft and other military assets to the Middle East, even though protests in Iran had largely stopped when the aircraft carrier arrived in the region this week.
Trump leaves open the question of the purpose of sending the armada – "ready, willing and able to quickly carry out its mission, with great speed and force, if necessary", without specifying what it is.
The newspaper recalls what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who stated that the armada was sent to "preemptively prevent" an Iranian attack on tens of thousands of American troops who are stationed at bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East. Rubio also admitted that the muted protests could be renewed. At the same time, "The Washington Post" notes that the regime in Iran has given no indication that it is planning a preemptive attack on American forces, although it has promised to respond aggressively if the United States or Israel strike first.