Report: CENTCOM chief urged halt to Hormuz campaign unless US prepared to escalate

Report: CENTCOM chief urged halt to Hormuz campaign unless US prepared to escalate

Nava Freiberg

CENTCOM commander Brad Cooper recommended halting the US bombing campaign against Iran around the Strait of Hormuz unless Washington was prepared to escalate into a broader military campaign, arguing that the operation had largely reached the limits of its effectiveness, Axios reports, citing two sources familiar with his assessment.

The report comes after the second night in a row without US strikes on Iran, after nearly two weeks of nightly attacks and retaliations by Tehran targeting US allies across the region.

According to Axios, Cooper gave his recommendation to the Pentagon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the White House, ahead of a Friday meeting between Trump and senior advisers, during which the president decided to pause the attacks. Cooper said the campaign had significantly degraded Iran’s ability to attack ships in the Strait, noting that designated bombing targets had been mostly exhausted, the sources tell Axios.

The sources add that Cooper raised the possibility of resuming major combat operations against a remaining 20 percent of targets that the US military had designated, but did not strike during the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, and that, absent that move, there was no point in continuing the campaign in Hormuz.

According to reports from The New York Times and CNN, Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine both raised concerns about escalating the war in Iran as Trump weighed the possibility on Friday, amid concerns in the administration about expanding the conflict as defense stockpiles are being depleted and while there is a risk of alienating Middle East Gulf allies, affecting energy supplies and the global economy.

In the meantime, Trump’s top envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, are holding talks with the Iranians, both directly and through mediators, according to Axios and Channel 12 reporter Barak Ravid.

For now, the sides have reached an informal understanding of “quiet for quiet,” meaning neither side will fire as long as the current calm holds, Channel 12 reports, noting that Oman and Iran continue efforts to reach an agreement regarding the Strait of Hormuz, though there is no guarantee that Trump will accept any such agreement.