"Trump Holds Off on Large-Scale Attack on Iran Amid Fears of Depleted Air Defense Missiles"

Patriot Missiles Cost Over $4 Million Each
Deteriorating Weapons Stockpile Situation

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly held off on launching a large-scale attack against Iran after receiving reports from his advisers about depleted U.S. air defense missile stocks in the Middle East. Previously, the U.S. military had halted its airstrikes against Iran after 13 consecutive days of operations.

According to The New York Times (NYT) on July 25 (local time), during a closed-door meeting the previous day between President Trump and his advisers, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Cain stated that, while it would be possible to resume large-scale combat operations against Iran, doing so would dangerously deplete the supply of interceptor missiles available to U.S. forces. The concern was that if the conflict escalated, the already reduced stocks of Patriot interceptor missiles and other air defense assets in the Middle East could reach critically low levels.

U.S. President Donald Trump. The White House

Just a few days earlier, some Pentagon officials and U.S. military commanders believed President Trump was leaning toward approving the first phase of a multi-stage bombing campaign against Iran. The Pentagon had also deployed additional military assets to the Middle East, including aerial refueling tankers, in preparation for a potential full-scale assault on Iran.

In fact, in an interview with Axios on July 23, President Trump said, "We are considering a large-scale attack—bigger than ever before," adding, "We are fully prepared."

However, the NYT reported that on this day, after military leaders assessed that ammunition stocks to defend U.S. forces stationed in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were running low, President Trump decided to put the plans for bombing Iran on hold. U.S. military bases in these countries had come under heavy attack from Iran over the past two weeks.

The NYT previously reported that since the outbreak of hostilities with Iran in April, the U.S. has used up more than 1,200 Patriot missiles and that weapons stocks have fallen to alarmingly low levels. Each Patriot missile costs over 4 million dollars (about 5.9 billion won). This week, the weapons stockpile situation has deteriorated further, and sources said there were almost no members of Trump’s advisory team who believed expanding the war with Iran was a wise decision.

A high-ranking official expressed doubt that resuming large-scale combat would bring Iran back to the negotiating table and warned that it could have the opposite effect—bolstering Iran’s internal unity and focus on external threats.

The U.S. military suspended its airstrikes against Iran on July 24, bringing a temporary lull to the two weeks of ongoing hostilities. According to Axios, President Trump received a briefing from the military on July 24 about airstrike plans but declined to authorize them, instructing the military not to proceed.

Nevertheless, as clashes have intensified between U.S.-aligned Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, military tensions in the Middle East remain high.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.