Behind the Suspension of Strikes on Iran: A Recommendation from the Commander of CENTCOM to Trump

SadaNews - Coinciding with the suspension of reciprocal strikes between the United States and Iran, Axios revealed that the commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, recommended stopping the U.S. bombing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz, considering it had reached its maximum effectiveness.

Two informed sources stated that Cooper's recommendation, along with the opinions of other advisers, influenced President Donald Trump's decision on Friday to suspend U.S. strikes against Iran, reflecting an acknowledgment from Trump's military and civilian advisers of the limits of what can be achieved through military action, particularly through an air power-driven campaign, according to Axios.

For the first time in two weeks, Trump instructed the U.S. military to halt strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz following a meeting with his senior advisers and military leaders, during which a special operations plan was presented.

In the days leading up to the meeting, Trump had been inclined to resume large-scale combat operations, but his direction began to shift on Thursday evening, before his decision solidified on Friday to halt the bombing campaign in the strait, according to the two sources for the U.S. website.

Behind the American Consultations

Behind the scenes, the two sources clarified that Admiral Cooper had raised his recommendations earlier in the week to the U.S. Department of Defense (the Pentagon), the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the White House, stressing that the strikes which lasted two weeks had significantly weakened Iran's ability to target shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Cooper also added that most of the bombing targets had already been exhausted, indicating that the remaining military option was to return to large-scale combat operations to complete targeting about 20% of the objectives identified by the U.S. military, but which were not hit during the "Epic Rage" operation.

Meanwhile, the CENTCOM commander emphasized, according to the sources, that if a decision was not made to return to large-scale military operations, there would be no military justification for continuing the bombing campaign in the manner it was conducted over the past two weeks.

The spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, Captain Tim Hawkins, declined to comment on the report.

In related developments, the two sources reported that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Keen, warned in closed meetings that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and President Trump about the potential impact of a shortage of missiles and air defense interception systems on the U.S. ability to protect its forces and allies in the region.