President Donald Trump said the latest round of U.S. strikes on Iran would not last long, even as Washington prepares to keep some of its forces deployed across the Middle East into 2027 — a sign that the confrontation with Tehran could outlive the current military campaign.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Wednesday, Trump said the renewed U.S. military operation against Iran would not continue “for a long period of time,” following the fiercest exchange of attacks between the two countries since July.
But Trump left the door open to further strikes, saying U.S. forces were prepared to hit Iranian targets again “any time we want.”
Trump’s comments came as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth moved to extend the deployment of some U.S. troops and military assets in the Middle East, in some cases into 2027, according to The Wall Street Journal.
More than 50,000 U.S. military personnel are currently deployed in the region, according to U.S. Central Command. The American force includes warships, air-defense units, fighter aircraft and ground troops, giving Trump the ability to maintain military pressure on Iran even if the current round of strikes comes to an end.
The Washington Post reported this week that U.S. military leaders had objected to extending some deployments, warning that keeping troops and equipment in the Middle East for prolonged periods could undermine U.S. military readiness elsewhere.
The latest escalation followed a period in which the Trump administration had sought to intensify economic pressure on Tehran without expanding military operations. Washington imposed new sanctions and threatened action against countries and companies that continued doing business with Iran.
But the confrontation flared again this week after sweeping U.S. strikes on Iranian targets and Tehran’s response with missile and drone attacks on sites in countries across the region.
U.S. Central Command said it struck sites belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Tuesday, including air-defense and radar systems, naval assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
CENTCOM said the strikes followed attempts by the Revolutionary Guard, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, to target commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. military personnel.
Trump said one of the targets destroyed by U.S. forces was a missile that Iran had been developing to deploy mines in the strait. He said Tehran was also attempting to rebuild radar and missile systems that had previously been struck.
“We destroyed all the new equipment they tried to build near the Strait of Hormuz, some of it defensive and some of it offensive,” Trump said, adding that the attack was “very heavy.”
Iran responded with attacks it said targeted sites and bases linked to U.S. forces in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq.
A U.S. official said preliminary assessments showed no casualties among American forces.
Kuwait’s military said Thursday that its air defenses had intercepted Iranian missiles and drones. Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan have also reported intercepting attacks during the latest round of escalation.
The Iranian attacks drew sharp reactions from Gulf states that only weeks earlier had been pressing Washington to avoid an all-out war and give diplomacy more time.
The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday condemned Iranian attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region, calling them a “flagrant violation” of those countries’ sovereignty and a threat to their security.
On Thursday, Trump spoke by telephone with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about developments in the Middle East and efforts to address them, as well as bilateral cooperation, according to the UAE’s state news agency, WAM.
Qatar adopted a similar position. Its Foreign Ministry said the continued Iranian attacks represented a “dangerous escalation” that could complicate efforts to contain tensions and undermine diplomatic initiatives.
The ministry held Iran “fully legally responsible” for the attacks and their consequences and called for an end to military operations and a return to dialogue.
The response reflects a shift among some Gulf states, which had urged Trump in early August to avoid a major attack on Iran. With Iranian attacks now reaching the territory of countries across the region, those governments are confronting more directly the risks of a widening conflict.
Trump has not specified when the latest strikes will end or what conditions could bring the campaign to a halt.
On Tuesday, he said the United States was in a “much better position,” pointing to what he described as near-total control of the Strait of Hormuz and the pressure facing Iran’s economy.
But he went beyond the stated objectives of the military campaign when he called on Iranians to rise up against their government, asking: “When will the Iranian people rise up and fight?”
While Trump’s comments suggest the current round of fighting could be brief, the scale of the U.S. military presence in the region — and the extension of some deployments — indicate that Washington is preserving its ability to resume strikes quickly if the president chooses to do so.
Adapted and translated from the original Arabic.
