“It’s either we’re looking at the real contours of an achievable deal soon, or he's going to bomb the hell out of them,” the official said.
The report said Trump wants pressure on Iran while keeping diplomatic channels open.
Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are still exchanging proposals with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, it said, citing officials.
A senior US official said the two sides remain far apart.
“There are talks. There are offers. We don't like theirs. They don't like ours,” the official said.
One source described Trump’s Project Freedom to help guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz as “the beginning of a process that could lead to a confrontation with the Iranians.”
According to the United States Central Command, military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, drones, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft and 15,000 troops.