The Trump administration, it is said, is planning some preliminary contingency plans for a military strike toward Iran, including the possibility of airstrikes on a large scale. Senior U.S. officials have started talking about how to make President Trump’s recent escalations in rhetoric operational as protests in Iran are entering a more violent phase, outlets like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post reported.
Escalating Rhetoric and "Routine" Planning
Pentagon sources insist such planning is now “routine” and neither indicates an imminent strike, but the timing coincides with a string of pointed warnings from the White House. On Saturday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran is “looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before,” and that the United States “stands ready to help.”
The administration’s move in the direction of a more aggressive stance comes after reports of a growing death toll among Iranian demonstrators. Authorities in Tehran have called protesters “enemies of God,” a death penalty-style offense, and have put an internet blackout almost entirely into effect to suppress protests.
Targets and Objectives for the Future and Strategic Objectives
Insiders say that any potential aerial attack would aim to attack a number of Iranian military facilities and infrastructure. This builds on the precedent established in June 2025, when U.S. forces employed so-called “bunker buster” bombs against the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant and other strategic nodes.
The talks right now center around:
- Military Infrastructure: Communication centers and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases.
- Nuclear Resilience: Ensuring that any efforts to rebuild the program after the June strikes are halted.
- Internal Support: The exertion of military pressure against the regime to make it reluctant to commit a lethal attack on the civilian populations
A Region on Edge
The geopolitical climate is also being tested by the administration's recent military success in Venezuela, which some analysts believe has encouraged a more aggressive, "Donroe Doctrine" foreign policy regime. But critics and world leaders have called for restraint, arguing that a direct strike on Iranian soil could spark a lengthy regional conflict. For now, no U.S. troops or other heavy assets have been deployed, but the administration’s “locked and loaded” position has kept Tehran on strict high alert.
