Trump says he is on verge of launching largest-ever strike on Iran

US President Donald Trump said he is on the verge of ordering the largest military strike ever launched against Iran, raising the specter of a full-scale war in the Middle East as American airstrikes against the country entered their 12th consecutive day.

In an interview with Axios on Thursday (local time), Trump said he is considering "a very big attack — bigger than anything before," adding that he is "right before making a decision" and that "all preparations are complete."

Axios interpreted the remarks as signaling a strike that would go beyond the limited airstrikes currently underway and surpass even Operation Grand Fury, the largest previous direct military confrontation between the United States and Iran.

Trump also raised the possibility of Israeli military involvement. "If I ask, Israel will join the attack within two minutes," he said, while adding that the United States does not need anyone else. He also suggested that Israeli participation would carry consequences — an apparent reference to the risk of Iranian retaliation.

Trump pressed further on negotiations, saying Iran "wants to make a deal but is not yet ready to close one," and that the country "has not yet suffered enough."

Separately, Trump issued a stark warning to Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels via his Truth Social platform.

He said that if the Houthis attack commercial vessels in the Red Sea again, "the United States will hold Iran responsible, as the Houthis are Iran's proxy," and that Iran "will face severe military consequences — and so will the Houthis."

The warning came shortly after the Houthis announced they had struck two Saudi Arabian oil tankers passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia has been routing crude oil produced at its eastern fields through a pipeline to the Red Sea coast and exporting it via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a detour it adopted after Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The Houthi attack threatens the broader Middle East oil supply chain.

Trump criticized the Houthis, saying the United States had struck them "very hard" a year ago for disrupting commerce and trade, and that while "they behaved responsibly" afterward, "they started again and fired at two Saudi ships last night."

Last year, after the Houthis began attacking vessels transiting the Red Sea, the United States deployed an aircraft carrier and launched airstrikes on Houthi positions.

Meanwhile, as the prospect of an expanded US-Iran military conflict grows, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution Thursday requiring congressional approval before the United States can wage war against Iran, by a vote of 214 to 208. The Senate is expected to take up a similar measure.