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The US military's planning regarding Iran has reached an advanced stage, with options including targeting individuals as part of an attack, and even seeking to change the regime in Tehran if President Donald Trump orders it, according to two US officials who spoke to Reuters.
The military options are the latest indication that the United States is preparing for a serious conflict with Iran if diplomatic efforts fail. Reuters reported last week that the US military is preparing for an ongoing operation that could last for weeks against Iran, and could include strikes on Iranian security facilities in addition to nuclear infrastructure. The new information indicates more detailed and ambitious planning before a decision is made by Trump, who has publicly floated the idea of regime change in the Islamic Republic in recent days. The two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the planning, did not provide additional details about the individuals who might be targeted or how the US military might seek to implement regime change without a large ground force. Seeking regime change represents a new shift away from Trump's campaign promises to abandon what he described as the failed policies of previous administrations, which included military efforts to overthrow governments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump has amassed a huge amount of firepower in the Middle East, but most of the combat capabilities are on warships and fighter jets. Any large-scale bombing campaign could also rely on the support of bombers from US territory. During his first term, Trump showed a willingness to carry out targeted assassinations when he approved in 2020 the attack that killed Iran's most prominent general, Qassem Soleimani, who was leading the foreign intelligence and paramilitary operations arm in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, known as the Quds Force. The Trump administration officially classified the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019, in a first of its kind in applying this classification to the army of another country. One US official pointed to what he described as Israel's success in targeting Iranian leaders during its 12-day war with Iran last year. According to regional sources who spoke to Reuters at the time, at least 20 high-level commanders were killed, including Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri. The US official said: "The 12-day war and the Israeli strikes against individual targets really showed the feasibility of this approach," adding that the focus was on those involved in the command and control of the Revolutionary Guard forces. However, the official warned that targeting individuals requires additional intelligence resources, as killing a specific military commander means knowing his exact location and understanding who might be collateral damage during the operation. It was not clear to the officials who spoke to Reuters what intelligence the United States has regarding Iranian leaders who might be potentially targeted. The White House and the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Sky News)
