'Next comes bridges, power plants': Trump says US strikes on Iran to escalate in 3 days

US President Donald Trump convened a high-level situation room meeting on Wednesday (local time) to discuss a major expansion of military operations against Iran, with officials weighing strikes beyond the ongoing campaign around the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reported citing three sources familiar with the discussions.The meeting came as US forces carried out a fourth consecutive day of strikes targeting Iranian air defence systems, radar installations, anti-ship missile positions and drone launch sites along the Hormuz and Iran's southern coast.According to US officials, the objective is to significantly weaken Tehran's ability to threaten commercial shipping through one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints.Trump signals wider warAhead of the meeting, Trump told Fox News that the military campaign would intensify over the coming days and warned of a broader assault if Iran refuses to negotiate."The US military is going to hit Iran 'hard' over the next three days," Trump said, before suggesting the offensive could escalate even further."Next week, it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants. Next week comes the bridges. We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're gonna knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate," he said.Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, secretary of State Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen. Dan Caine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and other senior national security officials.The talks reportedly centred on options for a wider offensive aimed at increasing pressure on Tehran to reopen the Hormuz and accept US demands over its nuclear programme.Pickaxe Mountain under watchTrump also said Washington is closely monitoring activity at Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site that US and Israeli officials believe could be used for Iran's nuclear programme.He said American bunker-buster bombs are capable of striking deeply buried targets but acknowledged uncertainty over the site's vulnerability."By the way, nobody knows if they even are doing anything in Pickaxe. It's just something that comes up. We have cameras on it. There's very little activity there. But, uh, if there's even just a small amount, we'll hit it and we'll hit it hard," Trump said.The meeting took place as military operations continued across the Gulf.According to US officials, recent strikes have focused on degrading Iran's air defences and its capability to launch anti-ship missiles and drones against vessels transiting Hormuz.Iran, meanwhile, continued retaliatory missile and drone attacks on US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain.Catch the latest world news and top headlines. Download the TOI App.