Speaking to Axios<\/a> on Thursday, the president said the proposed strikes would be bigger than anything seen in the war so far, and that Iran has not “received enough pain yet.”<\/p>\n “I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump said in the interview. <\/p>\n U.S. forces have pummeled Iranian targets over the past two weeks, with Central Command completing a 13th consecutive night of strikes overnight. <\/p>\n Trump did not give a deadline for when he would make a decision about a major attack on Iran, according to Axios. He said that Israel would join the operation “in two minutes if I ask them to,” but that Israel would potentially face retaliation from Iran if it did take part.<\/p>\n The president also repeated that the Iranian side “want to negotiate,” but told the outlet Tehran is not yet ready to make a deal with the U.S. <\/p>\n On Thursday, Trump said he would hold Iran responsible for further attacks by Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthis, after the militant group claimed<\/a> to have struck two Saudi Arabian oil tankers in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n “If they do this again, the U.S. will hold Iran responsible, in that the Houthis are a Surrogate and\/or Proxy of Iran, and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves,” he said in a Truth Social post<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Houthis declared a\u00a0maritime embargo<\/a>\u00a0against Saudi Arabia on Monday, threatening<\/a> to cut off the kingdom’s oil exports through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.<\/p>\n Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday that it had attacked U.S. military facilities at an American military base in Jordan, according to state media. <\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled Trump’s approach to the Iran war as “a head for an eye.”<\/p>\n “Honestly, that’s what it’s going to be,” he said. “They will pay a very heavy price for the things they’re doing. They’re already paying a very heavy price.”<\/p>\n Oil prices fell by around 1% on Friday morning, but were still on course for a weekly rise of 10%. Global benchmark Brent crude futures<\/a> held above the $99-per-barrel mark, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures<\/a> were trading at $91.08 a barrel. <\/p>\n![\"Iran](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/108339653-17848725081784872505-47353919782-1080pnbcnews.jpg\")
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