The Trump administration is reportedly preparing preliminary plans for an attack on Iran, including the option of large-scale airstrikes.
Officials are considering how to follow through on President Trump’s recent elevated threats against the Islamic Republic, including what sites might be targeted, insiders told the Wall Street Journal.
A massive aerial strike campaign on multiple Iranian military targets is one option being considered — although Washington has not reached consensus on a plan of action.
REUTERS
No military equipment or personnel have been moved for a potential attack, the insiders said.
The conversations do not indicate that the US will strike, with the sources explaining that the planning is routine.
Trump, however, teased that the US was gearing up to retaliate should Tehran continue killing protesters in a post on Truth Social.
“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” he wrote Saturday. “The USA stands ready to help!!!”
A US attack on Iran would not be unprecedented — Trump ordered the first-ever US strike on Iranian territory back in June.
The US dropped at least six “bunker buster” bombs across three sites, including Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, a deeply fortififed facility hidden nearly 300 feet beneath a mountain.
The bombing came after Iran threatened to use its nuclear muscle against Israel during their 12-Day War, and was coordinated with the Jewish state’s own extensive attacks on Tehran’s military infrastructure.
The US military’s threat to intervene follows repeated warnings by Trump that the Washington would repsond in support of protestors should the Iranian regime continue to show violence against its civilians.
“You better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting too,” Trump warned Friday.
In response, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Trump of having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” in remarks aired Friday.
