US President Donald Trump reportedly convened an emergency meeting with his top national security team at the White House on the morning of May 22 to assess the escalating tensions with Iran, as Washington considers military options if diplomatic efforts continue to stall.
According to Axios, citing two US officials, President Trump is seriously XEM expanding attacks on Iran unless there is a "last-minute breakthrough" in ongoing negotiations. The meeting was attended by key figures in the US security and defense apparatus, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine. The discussions reportedly focused on military response options, the ability to contain the conflict from spreading, and assessing the impact on US allies in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, according to the state news agency IRNA, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei confirmed that diplomatic delegations from Qatar and Pakistan were in Tehran to participate in mediation talks. Notably, the visit of Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir is XEM as an attempt to de-escalate tensions and prevent a wider outbreak of conflict.
However, Iran stated that “very deep differences” still exist between Tehran's and Washington's positions. Baghaei emphasized that reaching a substantive agreement would require more time and several more rounds of negotiations. This suggests that the prospect of a diplomatic breakthrough in the short term remains quite slim.
