The US and Israeli militaries have drawn up plans for a short, intensive military operation targeting sites inside Iran, The New York Times has reported.
The strikes are likely to include energy infrastructure, in a development that threatens to widen the standoff and bring vital facilities of the Iranian economy into the line of fire.
According to circulated information, the newspaper reported that the joint military plans envisage carrying out focused strikes over a limited period of time, rather than embarking on a prolonged military campaign.
However, it did not disclose a possible date for the operation, a specific list of targets, or whether a final decision had been made to launch it.
Citing officials, the newspaper said potential targets include nuclear facilities, missile and drone sites, as well as energy infrastructure.
It noted that some military planners believe a three-day campaign could push Tehran into making concessions, although Trump is reluctant to target oil facilities for fear of driving up fuel prices.
The newspaper also revealed that US and Israeli forces have stepped up their air exercises, including sorties over Iraq, while the US has reinforced its military presence with three aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and special forces.
Tehran, meanwhile, has warned that any new attack would not remain limited in scope, adding that its response could extend to energy facilities and vital infrastructure across the region.
Meanwhile, Iran reported three more tankers had been damaged in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, making clear that shipping would remain in peril as long as the war in the Gulf is unresolved, now that US voters have punished President Donald Trump for waging it.
The electoral rout that cost Trump’s Republicans control of Congress has prompted a stark reassessment of the conflict’s political cost in Washington, led by Vice President JD Vance, who said in a long social media post on Wednesday that the war was to blame for his party’s defeat.
Attacks on tankers in the Gulf are still running close to a record pace.
At least five vessels have reported incidents since Sunday, according to UK maritime security agency UKMTO, around the same rate as in October when the agency said 35 vessels were hit, the most of any month of the war.
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