CENTCOM Commander Advised Halting Hormuz Bombing Campaign as Targets Exhausted

Analysis
Cooper's assessment that two weeks of strikes had exhausted most designated targets, paired with Caine's warning on depleting air-defense interceptor stocks, makes resumption near the Strait unlikely within the next two weeks absent a clear trigger such as an attack on shipping or a collapse of the Oman-mediated talks. The pause is a military judgment that the campaign had run its course short of full escalation, not a ceasefire, and reversing it would require fresh White House authorization to strike the remaining fifth of the target set; strikes have now held off for a second consecutive night, a break from the sustained tempo of prior reporting. The pause may equally reflect an effort to shield the Omani-mediated negotiations rather than a purely military exhaustion calculus. Reporting rests on a single Axios disclosure recirculated without independent corroboration, leaving moderate confidence, and whether Washington authorizes strikes on the remainder will determine whether shippers and Gulf allies plan around continued military risk or a diplomatic outcome.