The U.S. has drawn up plans to relaunch major attacks on Iran almost as soon as Donald Trump decides to carry them out, according to a report.
Military forces are strategically deployed across the Middle East so that strikes against Iran could be carried out “within 96 hours of receiving” an order from the president, sources have told CNN.
Trump is reportedly weighing up renewing the bombardment of Iran following the Nov. 3 midterms as part of a desperate push to end the deeply unpopular conflict, which has dragged on for nearly eight months with no end in sight.
The fresh round of military attacks would be a drastic escalation from the “mow the lawn” style of strikes the U.S. has so far carried out against targets in Iran that Tehran has managed to reconstruct, an official said. The U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon have drawn up a wide-ranging list of targets, including Iran’s energy infrastructure, military sites, and nuclear facilities.
“It will be a big effort,” one official told CNN. Other sources believe it is a question of when, not if, Trump will announce a dramatic escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
However, there are also concerns that the erratic 80-year-old president could decide to launch strikes against Iran and then quickly change his mind, as he has done multiple times.
The U.S. was on the verge of launching attacks on Iran earlier this month, but Trump postponed the strikes at the 11th hour. In an Oct. 8 Truth Social post, Trump vowed that “we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections.”
One official believes Trump is resorting to escalating the fighting in Iran because he sees it as the only option for resolving the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
The closure of the vital shipping route for oil and gas from the Gulf has caused a worldwide oil crisis and sent gas and diesel prices soaring in the U.S., which could ultimately doom Republicans in the midterms. The official said the situation around the strait is “untenable” for Trump and the U.S. in the long term.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also been pushing for Israel to renew attacks on Iran, according to the report. However, Trump administration officials have tried to dissuade Netanyahu from launching fresh strikes until the U.S. is ready to join them.
“Netanyahu really wanted and tried to convince Trump for a joint attack in Iran before the elections, and Trump did not give a green light,” an Israeli security source told CNN.
There are concerns that renewed attacks on Iran could affect Tuesday’s elections in Israel. The New York Times previously reported that if Netanyahu loses his re-election bid, it would be much harder to persuade the country to back his war plans.
“If Iran attacks, that’s one thing, but initiating an offensive strike would be extremely difficult for him,” Mazal Mualem, an Israeli political commentator who wrote a biography of Netanyahu, told the Times.
A Defense Department spokesperson told the Daily Beast: “The department’s job is to develop and present military options to the president. We don’t speculate on hypothetical situations or future operations.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
