News Desk, The Cradle.
Amid fears of depleted missile stocks, further escalation.
President Trump has called off a major expansion of attacks on the Islamic Republic following warnings from his advisors on Friday.
The US has paused its strikes on Iran for the past two days after 13 straight days of attacks, amid concerns that stocks of missile interceptors needed to defend US assets and personnel in the Gulf are running dangerously low.
A Department of Defense source told CNN on 26 July that US military operations, which drew heavy retaliatory strikes from Iran, are now “on a hold.”
Iranian Army Spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said that Iran has consequently stopped its strikes on US assets across the region, which were retaliatory in nature.”
The Americans stopped their attacks over the past two nights. Since our strategy was entirely focused on retaliatory actions, we also ceased our operations in response.”
The pause comes as US President Donald Trump has reportedly abandoned plans, at least for now, to sharply escalate the war.
“I am considering a massive attack. Bigger than ever before. I am close to making a decision. We are all set for it,” Trump told Axios on Thursday.
However, the president held a meeting on Friday with his military and political advisors who warned him against such a move, citing the dangers of dwindling supplies of munitions to defend US troops stationed in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE.
The New York Times (NYT) reported on Saturday that Trump made the about-face amid concerns from his close advisors that “intensifying the war could dangerously drain the Pentagon’s already diminished stockpile of Patriot antimissile interceptors and other air defense munitions” in the region.
“The private deliberations have focused on the Pentagon’s shrinking inventory of Patriot interceptors and other air defenses,” US officials said.
Vice President JD Vance and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine were among those advising against an escalation, CNN reported, citing sources.
The dangers were illustrated when three US service personnel in Jordan were killed by Iranian strikes just over a week ago. “A major attack would most likely have drawn a heavier Iranian retaliation, putting more pressure on U.S. air defenses,” the NYT wrote.
In April, the NYT reported that the Pentagon had used more than 1,200 Patriot interceptor missiles in the war, at a cost of $4 million each, leaving inventories “worrisomely low.” Since then, US stocks have fallen even further.
Trump and his top aides are also reportedly concerned that escalating the war could further alienate key Gulf allies, who have borne the brunt of Iranian attacks. The aides also expressed fears of triggering a global economic crisis resulting from elevated energy prices as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
World oil prices have remained below crisis levels, despite Iran’s closure of Hormuz since the start of the war, in part because China has reduced oil purchases, including of Iranian oil. “The Chinese, in general, because of the prices and because they have a very large strategic petroleum reserve, have dropped their purchases of crude over the past few months by about 40 percent, and that’s directly pressuring the Iranian regime,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday.
During the Friday meeting, Trump’s son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, advocated continuing negotiations with Iran while escalating economic pressure on Tehran through sanctions and naval blockades over time.
Several Pentagon officials and US military commanders said the escalation considered by Trump would have targeted Iran’s coastal radars, anti-ship missile launchers, and a fleet of small attack boats and other sites that have allowed Iranian forces to target commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Attacks on Iranian energy facilities and Iran’s nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, were also under consideration.
Fars News Agency reported that in the past two weeks, Iran has targeted and destroyed a wide array of US aircraft, including helicopters, drones, refueling aircraft, and grounded fighter jets.
They have also successfully targeted US radars, air defense infrastructure, base infrastructure and logistical support centers, an Amazon data center, and aircraft and drone hangars and shelters.
Iranian missile and drone attacks against US targets in the Gulf have forced Washington to revisit its regional strategy, Akraminia stated on Saturday.
Akraminia described Iran’s military strategy in the face of the US violations as one of “retaliatory deterrence.”
Brigadier General Mohsen Mohebbi, spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), said Iranian Armed Forces have killed more than 200 US servicemen deployed at American bases in West Asia since Washington violated the ceasefire two weeks ago.
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