The Pentagon has drawn up options for a military operation involving roughly three days of intensive strikes on Iran, The New York Times reported, citing U.S. officials. President Donald Trump has not made a final decision to resume attacks.
Potential targets include Iranian missiles and drones, energy infrastructure, and command centers and headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the newspaper reported. The plan was discussed at Camp David at a meeting led by Vice President JD Vance, according to the Times.
In recent months, Trump’s national security team and the Pentagon have presented him with five options for major operations against Iran or Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. He rejected all of them, the newspaper said.
On Thursday, Trump said the United States would not resume strikes on Iran before the November 3 midterm elections and described discussions with Tehran as productive. The Associated Press confirmed his statement and reported that a third U.S. carrier strike group could arrive in the region by the end of October.
The Times said the three groups could bring more than 20,000 sailors and Marines and hundreds of aircraft to the Middle East. It reported that the region has not had three U.S. carrier strike groups at the same time since 2003. U.S. command is prepared for broader combat operations if Trump changes course, the paper reported.
The current U.S.-Iran war began on February 28 with joint U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian territory. Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum in June that provided for an end to hostilities and 60 days of talks, but the United States restored its naval blockade of Iran in July. On October 7, Vance said a significant reduction in Iran’s uranium-enrichment capacity was a condition for ending the war.