US considering killing Iranian leaders, bombing missile bases and nuclear sites – report

Security officials briefing President Trump on possible options for attacks on Iran in the event diplomacy fails present plans for targeted killings of Iranian leaders, an expanded air campaign against Iranian nuclear sites, and bombings of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

By World Israel Staff

The United States could carry out targeted killings of Iranian leaders and launch an expanded air campaign against Iranian nuclear facilities if efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis fail, multiple American and foreign officials say.

A report published Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal said that security advisers briefing President Donald Trump on possible options for military intervention in Iran have presented him with scenarios including a campaign aimed at killing dozens of Iranian leaders, with the goal of ultimately toppling the Islamic Republic.

Other possible options presented include attacks on Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.

According to the report, the United States is assembling the largest concentration of air power in the Middle East in more than two decades, going back to the 2003 Iraq War.

With hundreds of warplanes deployed in the region, strategic bombers available at Diego Garcia, one aircraft carrier battle group stationed in the Persian Gulf and a second battle group en route to the eastern Mediterranean, the American military can sustain a lengthy air campaign, officials told the Journal, mounting round-the-clock sorties for weeks.

While the two countries held a second round of negotiations Tuesday in Geneva, Iran is also making extensive preparations for a possible military confrontation with the US.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held naval drills in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz – through which 20% of the world’s oil supply travels – including live-fire exercises.

Inside Iran, the regime is reinforcing sensitive sites, including nuclear facilities, and instructing commanders to provide clear contingency plans in the event they are incapacitated during an American air campaign.