US Prepares for Prolonged Military Confrontation with Iran, Axios Reports

The United States is preparing for a prolonged military confrontation with Iran that could last days or even weeks, as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate following fresh US strikes and Tehran's retaliation, Axios reported, citing US officials.

According to the report, the duration of the conflict will largely depend on whether Iran continues attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

US officials said the current exchange of fire could last "a day or two, a week or a month."

According to the report, White House believes it has greater room to escalate after hundreds of oil tankers successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, easing concerns that renewed hostilities would immediately trigger a major spike in global oil prices.

Behind the escalation, a US official told Axios that hardline factions within Iran's divided leadership have grown increasingly frustrated, believing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Washington has failed to deliver tangible benefits for Tehran.

The official said Iran also believed it was losing leverage over the Strait of Hormuz as hundreds of commercial vessels continued using the southern shipping lane close to the Omani coast.

Despite US sanctions waivers, Iran struggled to increase oil sales because financial institutions were unwilling to process transactions and several countries were reluctant to rely on temporary exemptions, the official said.

The official added that none of Iran's frozen funds had been released because Tehran had yet to take the nuclear steps required under the agreement.

The US-brokered framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon had also made the Lebanon-related provisions of the MOU unnecessary.

"Part of the Iranian leadership was not happy about all of those things," the US official was quoted as saying.

"They started shooting and we decided it's time to slap them back hard. It's a process. We have patience. If we don't feel we're getting the deal we want, we are not going to do it."

Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump declared the 60-day ceasefire outlined in the MOU was "over" after Iranian attacks on commercial shipping triggered a fresh exchange of fire.

The US subsequently launched another round of strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, including attacks on infrastructure inside Iran for the first time in months.

Iran responded by targeting US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain while reiterating that it would not back down from its claim over the strategic waterway.

Hours later, however, Trump signalled that Washington remained open to diplomacy, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that Iranian officials had "called a little while ago" and "want to make a deal."

It remained unclear which communication Trump was referring to, and Iranian officials did not immediately confirm any direct contact.

"I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal," Trump said.

"They're sort of crazy, to be honest."

Vice President JD Vance also warned that Washington would not tolerate any disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

"The US position is simple: the Strait of Hormuz must remain open," Vance said.

"If they try to close it down, there's going to be a response from the American military."

"They can either follow it, or they can have exactly what happened to them last night. It's just going to keep on happening until they open up that lane and stop shooting at ships."