CENTCOM Pushes New Hormuz Strikes, Trump Hesitates
U.S. Central Command has drafted a plan for repeated, limited strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backs it, but President Trump has not yet given his approval.
A new phase in Washington’s debate over Iran strategy has confirmed that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has drawn up a concrete, written plan for repeated, limited strikes in the Strait of Hormuz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth backs the plan, but President Donald Trump has not yet signed off on it. The decision is being made thousands of miles from Belgrade, yet it touches Serbia indirectly too: a large share of the world’s crude oil passes through that strait, so any new escalation immediately moves the price of a barrel on global markets, and with it fuel prices in Europe.
What CENTCOM Is Proposing
The plan was drawn up by CENTCOM over the past week, according to reporting by the U.S. outlet Axios published on August 31, 2026. One American official described the approach with the phrase “mow the lawn”: rather than a single large strike, the military would periodically hit Iranian radar and missile capabilities as soon as they are rebuilt, so Tehran cannot again threaten tankers, U.S. Navy ships and Air Force planes in the region. CENTCOM sent the proposal to Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine and the White House, arguing that the military would need to periodically strike Iran to let dozens of tankers a day safely leave the Gulf. The operation in the region is led by CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper.
Trump: “It’s Very Limited”
Asked in the Oval Office on Monday whether renewed American strikes amount to a limited campaign or a slide back into full-scale war, the president kept his answer brief: “It’s very limited.” He added that this does not mean Washington is done responding: “That doesn’t mean we won’t smack them. We’ll see what happens.” The same day, he said the situation in the strait was under control: “We have the Strait of Hormuz in extremely good shape,” and described the intensity of the conflict by saying, “This is not a big war.”
Hours earlier, the president had posted on Truth Social that Iran was effectively finished as a functioning state: “Iran is officially a Failed Nation. IT IS DEAD!”
Asked by reporters, the White House responded with a statement, as reported by B92:
“The president is keeping all options on the table. The Iranians want a deal, but they are always late and never do enough.”
How Did the New Escalation Happen?
The debate over the CENTCOM plan gained new momentum after a weekend exchange of fire. U.S. forces struck two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launchers on Larak Island on Sunday; CENTCOM said they were being prepared to fire rockets carrying naval mines into the Strait of Hormuz. Iran retaliated with ballistic missiles against U.S. bases in Jordan, and Jordanian air defenses shot down eight of the incoming missiles, with no casualties or material damage reported. Before that exchange, according to the Times of Israel, the White House had leaned toward rejecting the CENTCOM proposal to avoid further escalating the conflict, but the same source warned that Iran had already started rebuilding its capabilities in the strait, which, judging by the latest comments from the Oval Office, has now put the proposal back on the table.
In recent months, the U.S. military has gradually taken control of a large part of the strait: Iranian mines have been cleared from shipping lanes, and close to 1,500 merchant vessels carrying about 750 million barrels of crude oil have passed through under American protection, an average of about 30 ships a night. Despite that, Iranian forces recently fired an anti-aircraft missile at a U.S. F-35 that was escorting a convoy through the strait. The missile did not hit the aircraft, but American officials read it as a sign that Tehran is rebuilding capabilities damaged in earlier strikes.
Iran’s Military Says It Is Rebuilding Capacity
On the Iranian side, air defense commander Brigadier General Alireza Elhami said Tehran has unveiled several new, domestically built interception systems developed using lessons from the earlier U.S. Israeli campaign. Senior IRGC advisor Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi claims that production facilities damaged in earlier strikes have been rebuilt at more secure locations, with more advanced technology and greater output, and that Iran still holds more than 90 percent of its missile arsenal. These claims have not been independently verified.
The Joint Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces and the Khatam al Anbia Central Headquarters warned in a joint statement that any new attack would trigger a far sharper response:
“While respecting the national sovereignty of our neighbors, we will never tolerate any form of aggression and will respond with a far more forceful response.”
What Happens Next
We already covered the weekend escalation in “The U.S. Strikes Larak, Iran Retaliates With Missiles on Jordan.” What is new as of Monday is that a detailed military plan for repeated strikes now exists, that the head of the Pentagon supports it, and that the final call rests solely with President Trump. While the White House keeps all options on the table, Admiral Cooper and CENTCOM continue to monitor traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly thirty tankers still pass through every night.
