The Pentagon is developing military options for a “final strike” on Iran that could include the use of ground forces and a massive bombing campaign, two U.S. officials and two sources familiar with the matter told Axios.
A dramatic military escalation will be more likely if no progress is made in diplomatic negotiations, and especially if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Some US officials believe that a devastating show of force to end the fighting would create a greater advantage in peace talks or simply give Trump something to point to and declare victory, Axios reports.
Iran also has a say in how the war ends, and many of the scenarios being discussed would risk prolonging and intensifying the fighting rather than bringing it to a dramatic end.
In interviews with Axios, officials and sources familiar with the internal discussions describe four main “final strike” options that Trump could choose:
1) Invasion or blockade of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export center,
2) The invasion of Larak, an island that helps Iran consolidate its control over the Strait of Hormuz. The strategic outpost contains Iranian bunkers, attack ships that can blow up cargo ships and radars that monitor movement in the strait.
3) Capture of the strategic island of Abu Musa and two smaller islands, located near the western entrance to the strait and administered by Iran, but also claimed by the UAE.
4) Blocking or seizing ships exporting Iranian oil on the eastern side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Plans for ground operations
The US military has also prepared plans for ground operations deep inside Iran to “secure” highly enriched uranium buried inside nuclear facilities.
Instead of conducting such a complicated and risky operation, the US could launch massive airstrikes against the facilities to try to prevent Iran from ever accessing the material.
Trump has yet to decide whether to pursue either of these scenarios, and White House officials describe any potential ground operations as “hypothetical.”
Threats to bomb the electricity plant
But sources say he is ready to escalate if talks with Iran don’t produce tangible results soon.
Trump could first carry out his threat to bomb power plants and energy facilities in Iran, prompting Tehran to threaten massive retaliation across the Gulf.
White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt warned Iran on Wednesday that Trump was prepared to strike “harder than ever before” if no deal was reached.
“The president is not bluffing and he is ready to raise hell. Iran should not make that mistake again … any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime … refuses to reach a deal,” Leavitt said.
Additional reinforcements, including several squadrons of fighter jets and thousands of troops, are expected to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days and weeks.
One Marine Expeditionary Unit will arrive this week and another is now being deployed.
A command element of the 82nd Airborne Division was ordered to deploy to the Middle East with an infantry brigade consisting of several thousand soldiers.
Iranian officials have said they distrust Trump’s negotiating effort and see it as a ruse to launch covert attacks.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X on Wednesday that Iranian intelligence suggests that “Iran’s enemies, with the support of countries in the region, are preparing an operation to occupy one of Iran’s islands.”
Ghalibaf was probably alluding to the UAE and their claims on Abu Musa.
– All enemy movements are under the supervision of our armed forces. If they take any action, all the vital infrastructure of that regional country will be the target of unrelenting attacks – he added.
A source involved in efforts to launch US-Iran talks said Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey were still trying to arrange a meeting between the parties.
The source said that while Iran had rejected the initial US list of demands, it had not completely ruled out negotiations.
– But the problem is mistrust. IRGC commanders are very skeptical, the source said, referring to Iran’s powerful military force.
– But the mediators did not give up – he added.
(Vijesti.ba)
