Iran mediators push new ceasefire as Trump eyes all-out war

President Trump is approaching a decisive fork in the Iran war, with U.S. and Israeli officials weighing just two endgames, Axios reports: a fresh ten-day ceasefire to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, or a full-scale joint military campaign with Israel to force Tehran to capitulate. Regional mediators — including Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan — have floated a cooling-off proposal that would halt the fighting and reopen both shipping lanes, while Washington negotiates a longer-term arrangement for passage through the strait. But Axios says neither side has accepted, and both appear determined to gain leverage through further strikes first. Ten straight nights of U.S. bombing have failed to break Iran's grip on the strait, at least three American service members have been killed, and oil briefly broke ninety dollars a barrel as Iran widened its attacks on Gulf shipping. The U.S. has sent dozens of fighter jets to the region even as it explores the talks, and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have declared a blockade on Saudi ports, opening yet another front in a conflict that grows deadlier and harder to contain with each new strike.

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