President Donald Trump is keeping full-scale strike options against Iran on the table but has decided, for now, to stick with diplomatic talks, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Trump held several recent conversations with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on whether the U.S. should abandon negotiations with Tehran and resume full-scale attacks, officials familiar with the discussions told the Journal.

Some officials described the option as "finishing the job."

Although he has not made a final decision, Trump has told aides he believes another round of full-scale attacks could derail diplomacy and hurt U.S. chances of dismantling Iran's nuclear program.

The U.S. and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding two weeks ago, ending hostilities that began Feb. 28 with joint U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Tehran's political leadership and military infrastructure.

The MOU established a 60-day framework while the sides work toward a permanent deal.

It requires Iran to make its best efforts to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in return for the U.S. lifting its naval blockade of Iran's ports.

Trump also has told aides he is comfortable letting negotiations with Tehran extend beyond the Aug. 18 deadline for a nuclear deal, officials told the Journal.

The decision gives negotiators additional time to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, Trump has said he is satisfied with ordering one-off strikes on Iran when it violates the MOU, which sparked back-and-forth fighting last weekend after an Iranian drone damaged a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Vice President JD Vance echoed that approach Tuesday, saying on Fox News that Trump wants to see where negotiations lead.

"And if it doesn't lead to a successful resolution on the diplomatic side, we still have a lot of optionality, and we still accomplished a whole lot for the American people," Vance said.

Vance also told the British outlet UnHerd last week that the U.S. and Iran agreed to establish a deconfliction channel in Doha, Qatar, that includes representatives from U.S. Central Command and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Trump routinely holds formal and impromptu meetings with Pentagon officials on military options regarding Iran.

But the latest discussions suggest he is looking for ways to break the deadlock with Tehran and has not yet ruled out a return to fighting, the Journal reported.

Resuming the conflict, some officials acknowledged, would be a tacit admission that the much-touted MOU failed.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and White House adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, arrived in Doha on Tuesday for a new round of negotiations, though they communicated through mediators rather than directly with Iranian officials, Qatari officials said.

Technical experts from both countries were similarly set for indirect talks this week.

A key point of contention is Iran's insistence on charging billions of dollars in service fees for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. said ships should be able to transit the waterway freely, as they did before the conflict began.

Tehran also said it will not accept severe restrictions on its nuclear program despite Trump insisting Iran has made that commitment.

Some officials have pointed to the crisis communication line between the IRGC and CENTCOM as evidence of improved relations between the parties, the Journal reported.

Others cautioned it is still in the early stages of development.

The diplomatic stalemate has led Trump to consider alternative courses.

Hegseth and Caine have provided options on resuming large-scale airstrikes on Iranian military sites, officials said.

Trump has other options at his disposal, Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert and vice president for foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, told the Journal.

The U.S. could slow-roll access to billions of dollars in Iranian frozen funds that Tehran desperately wants or continue raising the cost of Iran's efforts to control the Strait of Hormuz.

"This middle ground strategy has real limitations," she said, noting Trump does not appear to want full-scale war again and that Iran retains the ability to disrupt traffic in the waterway.

"But the combination of predictable U.S. reprisals and conditioning economic incentives on compliance could persuade Tehran not to overplay its hand," Maloney said.