Trump Considers 'Massive Attack' on Iran Amid Escalating Red Sea Conflict and Diplomatic Efforts

President Donald Trump said he will soon make a decision on whether to launch a "massive attack" on Iran after the conflict in the Middle East extended to a new battleground in the Red Sea.

At the same time, Pakistan is looking for ways to restart stalled peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, Reuters reported Friday morning, citing three Pakistani sources.

Stocks rose, and oil prices fell following that report, which gave investors new hope that the warring powers could find an off-ramp from their path of escalating hostilities.

Speaking to Axios 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."

"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.

U.S. forces have pummeled Iranian targets over the past two weeks, with Central Command completing a 13th consecutive night of strikes overnight.

Iran officials have remained publicly defiant. But this week Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar ​Momeni visited Islamabad, Pakistan, for the second time in 10 days to participate in exploratory discussions, according to Reuters.

Momeni, who is seen as being allied with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, met with Pakistani leaders and its defense chief, Asim Munir, during his latest trip, the report said.

The drive by Pakistan, a mediator throughout the U.S.'s nearly five-month-long war in Iran, to find a diplomatic path forward came after a push initiated by China, Iran's largest trading partner, Reuters reported.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Appropriations Committee this week that Russia and China "are, at different levels, enabling some of the things Iran is doing."

But Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday morning that, based on assurances he received from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the "two major Countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating."

"If they did, it would be very bad for them — Certainly not in their best interests," Trump wrote, citing their assurances.

Trump did not give a deadline for when he would make a decision about a major attack on Iran, according to Axios. He said 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.

The president also repeated his claim Iran wants to negotiate, but added that Tehran is not yet ready to make a deal with the U.S.

On Thursday, Trump said he would hold Iran responsible for further attacks by Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthis, after the militant group claimed to have struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

"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.

The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia on Monday, threatening to cut off the kingdom's oil exports through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

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.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled Trump's approach to the Iran war as "a head for an eye."

"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."