00:06The ceasefire is holding. Barely. Trump just landed from China, and the U.S. military is
00:13quietly picking a new name for the next round of strikes on Iran. That name? Operation Sledgehammer.
00:21Here's where we are. Last month, the U.S. ran Operation Epic Fury, direct strikes on Iran.
00:28Then came a ceasefire. Then a port blockade as a pressure tool. Then diplomatic talks.
00:35Then Trump read Iran's latest peace proposal and called it garbage.
00:40Iran's offer reportedly included some nuclear concessions, but Trump's line is simple and
00:46non-negotiable. Get rid of the highly enriched uranium. Stop the nuclear weapons program.
00:52Full stop. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. That gap hasn't closed, and the
00:59ceasefire built on top of it is looking increasingly fragile. NBC News, citing two U.S. officials,
01:06reports that if the ceasefire collapses and Trump greenlights fresh military action,
01:11the operation gets a new name. Operation Sledgehammer. It's one of several names being discussed,
01:18but the fact that Pentagon planners are naming a next operation tells you something about how
01:24seriously they're gaming out a return to conflict. Options reportedly on the table include intensified
01:31bombing of Iranian military sites and infrastructure, and potentially something far more dramatic,
01:37special operations forces on the ground, targeting nuclear material buried deep underground.
01:43Senior Pentagon officials say the month-long ceasefire pause wasn't downtime. It was used to restock.
01:51Weapons replenished. Warships resupplied. Aircraft reloaded. The pause was preparation.
01:57Trump just wrapped meetings with Xi Jinping in Beijing, and both leaders agreed the Strait of Hormuz
02:04needs to reopen. But China has also maintained its trade ties with Iran throughout this entire conflict.
02:10Tehran, meanwhile, is playing its own card, saying it won't reopen Hormuz unless Washington lifts the
02:17port blockade first. 20% of global oil. Still bottled up, still being used as leverage.
02:25Iran's parliamentary speaker this week warned that its armed forces were ready to, his words,
02:31teach a lesson for any aggression. And U.S. and Israeli military preparations are now reportedly
02:37at their largest scale since the ceasefire began, with officials warning action could come as early
02:43as next week. The world is watching one question right now. Does Trump decide the diplomacy is dead
02:50and reach for the sledgehammer? Or does someone find a face-saving off-ramp before this ceasefire
02:57becomes a countdown? Either way, the military is ready, the name is picked, and the clock is running.
03:26Transcription by CastingWords
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