Trump meets with Cabinet over whether to intensify Iran strikes

President Donald Trump met on Friday with top advisers to decide whether to intensify the military assault against Iran, according to four people briefed on the discussion. The consultations came just days before Trump is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since Netanyahu made the case in February for a joint offensive against Iran that began weeks later.

The announcement of the meeting comes at a crucial moment in the war, which is now nearing the end of its fifth month. Iran was said to have rejected the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal. And since a recent ceasefire collapsed, the two sides traded attacks for the 13th night in a row with little to no sign of willingness from either to return to the negotiating table.

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump offered little indication of what new attacks could accomplish, and he refused to answer a question about whether attacks he has threatened on civilian infrastructure could be considered war crimes under international law.

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On Thursday, Trump had told Axios that he did not expect Israel to take part in a potentially “massive attack” that he is considering because Israel might face retaliatory bombardment from Iran. Netanyahu is also expected to attend the funeral of Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch supporter of Israel.

Overnight, U.S. forces targeted Iranian military assets and facilities, including drone storage sites, to reduce the threat to commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said.

The Iranian military said it had launched drone attacks against U.S. military targets at bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued a warning for residents of countries that host U.S. forces to keep at least 500 meters from any building suspected of housing U.S. personnel.

The resurgence in fighting has sent the price of oil above $100 for the first time since May, though it settled Friday afternoon slightly below that mark. A threat by the Iranian-allied Houthi militants in Yemen to expand the fight to the Red Sea and target Saudi ships has injected further uncertainty into global energy markets.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Nuclear ambitions: U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and the harder-line government that emerged after the United States and Israel killed many of Iran’s previous leaders have ambitions to develop advanced nuclear weaponry, according to officials briefed on the assessments.

— Energy markets: The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, was up more than 7% at $100.95 a barrel on Friday, before dropping to around $98 a barrel. The price of crude is nearly 40% higher since the start of the war.

— Patrolling the strait: U.S. forces disabled a tanker identified as the Lavine after it repeatedly tried to breach the U.S. blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, according to Capt. Tim Hawkins, U.S. Central Command spokesperson. He said the crew ignored at least four warnings and added that he was aware of reported crew casualties but could not confirm them. U.S. forces have redirected at least a dozen commercial vessels since reimposing the blockade this month and previously disabled another ship.