The United States has paused its bombing campaign against Iran for a second consecutive night, with senior military officials advising President Donald Trump that the strikes have reached the limits of their effectiveness and warning of dwindling stockpiles of munitions.
Trump is weighing diplomatic and military options as the nearly five-month conflict continues, with diplomatic channels remaining open in an effort to avert a return to full-scale war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal critic of Washington’s negotiations with Tehran, is expected to visit the White House on Tuesday and has pressed for the strikes to continue.
The pause follows an intensified phase of the campaign, in which the US had escalated attacks in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor for global oil supplies. The earlier reports of a brief halt to strikes came amid the ongoing talks, marking a shift from weeks of near-nightly bombardment.
The decision to hold fire comes as questions mount over how the administration intends to wind down a conflict that remains unpopular with many Americans. Military leaders have signalled that continued strikes offer diminishing returns while draining precision weapons reserves.
The developments coincide with fresh scrutiny of the Pentagon’s official casualty accounting. Four American troops killed during recent fighting between US and Iranian forces are no longer listed within the Iran war death toll maintained by the Defense Casualty Analysis System, which officials have repeatedly described as the definitive source for the conflict’s toll.
The four soldiers, along with dozens of wounded personnel, were removed from the Iran tally last week. On Sunday, a new category labelled “Overseas Operations” appeared on the system’s website, listing the four Army deaths by name alongside 207 wounded, though it remained unclear whether all of those injuries were sustained in the Iran conflict.
Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez said the earlier drop in casualty figures was not an attempt to obscure the human cost of the war but rather the result of “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” that were being resolved “imminently.” As late as Tuesday, the system had reported the war’s official toll as 18 killed and 482 wounded.
US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, referred questions about the reclassification to the Pentagon, which did not immediately respond. The changes have raised concerns among observers about how the impact on US service members is being tracked as the campaign proceeds.
The renewed pause reflects the broader uncertainty surrounding the administration’s strategy, with earlier signals that Washington was considering ways to wind down the conflict now colliding with pressure from Israeli officials to maintain military momentum.
Netanyahu’s visit is expected to prove pivotal in determining whether the truce in strikes holds or whether Washington resumes its campaign. For now, diplomatic negotiations continue as both sides weigh the costs of a return to open hostilities.