Report: Pentagon Has Drawn Up Iran Strike Options Including the 'Mother of All Bombs'
CNN, as relayed by Breitbart, says plans exist if Trump authorizes new attacks, though there is no sign he has done so and he has pledged to wait until after the midterms.
Planning is not the same as a decision. That distinction matters in the latest report on the Iran war.
According to Breitbart News, which is relaying a CNN report from Thursday, the U.S. military has developed plans for potential strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and energy infrastructure that could include the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, known as the "Mother of All Bombs." CNN cited "multiple U.S. officials familiar" with the planning, who said the Pentagon prepared additional strike options at Trump's direction.
One source told CNN the proposed targets include "a lot of energy infrastructure," with strikes envisioned before an American military withdrawal from the region. Another said the plans contemplate using the weapon against Iranian nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified underground complex near Natanz. Iran continues to fortify its underground nuclear infrastructure, Breitbart reports, and the conflict began with U.S. and Israeli strikes in February.
There are doubts inside the military. Breitbart reports that officials have questioned whether the bomb, which is designed to devastate large surface areas rather than penetrate deeply buried structures, could destroy facilities protected by hundreds of feet of granite. "The MOAB is a massive information operation type weapon that is great for huge area clearance but not much else," one source told the outlet.
Importantly, nothing indicates that Trump has authorized new attacks. He has previously pledged not to strike Iran before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. A White House official told CNN: "President Trump keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon." A Pentagon spokesperson said the Department of War plans for a broad range of scenarios to carry out presidential directives.
Trump, meanwhile, keeps predicting an end to the war. At a rally in Montana on Wednesday he said: "We're going to knock this Iran thing off fast. It's going to be over very quickly." At another rally in Arizona he joked that so many Iranian leaders had been eliminated that "I don't know who the hell we're dealing with anymore."
Readers should treat the plans as reported by anonymous officials and not as confirmed policy. What is confirmed is the stated position: all options stay open, and no new strikes before Election Day.