Trump considers attacking the Islamic Republic
The Pentagon has already presented plans to Donald Trump to attack Iran, focusing on destroying the Fordow nuclear plant. The operation would depend on the GBU-57 bomb, one of the most powerful in the U.S. arsenal, capable of penetrating 60 meters of rock.The U.S. armed forces already have plans ready for a possible military attack against Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The final decision rests with President Donald Trump, who is said to have approved the preparations presented by the Pentagon, although he has not yet given the final order.
Israel launched a wide aerial campaign against Iran last Friday, calling it a preemptive strike to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied its plans to develop them and has retaliated with counterattacks against Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the «tyrants» of Tehran would pay «the full price» for an attack that damaged the Soroka Medical Center in the city of Beersheba in southern Israel. «Do we aim for the downfall of the regime? That may be the outcome, but it is up to the Iranian people to rise for their freedom,» Netanyahu said.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards stated that they had attacked Israeli military and intelligence outposts near the hospital. An Israeli military official denied that there had been military targets nearby.
Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier General Effie Defrin, accused Iran of deliberately attacking civilians in the attack on the hospital.
According to intelligence and defense sources, the primary target would be the underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, located about 100 kilometers south of Tehran.
This facility, protected by dozens of meters of solid rock, has been identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as the only Iranian site where traces of military-level enriched uranium have been detected. To achieve its destruction, the U.S. attack would rely on the use of a highly specialized bomb: the GBU-57/MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator), a 13,600-kilogram projectile specifically designed to penetrate up to 60 meters of reinforced concrete or rock before detonating. This precision bomb can only be launched from B-2 Spirit strategic bombers, also known as «stealth bombers,» capable of operating from bases in Missouri or from Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean.
Although its use has also been tested from B-52 aircraft, the B-2 remains the primary operational platform.
Israel, which maintains a strong interest in the Fordow facility, lacks the military capacity to penetrate its natural defenses. Its most advanced bombs, such as the GBU-28, barely achieve penetrations of 20 meters, making collaboration with the U.S. essential in the event of a joint offensive.
Until recently, Fordow was protected by the Russian S-300 air defense system, but military analysts assert that this coverage has been significantly reduced. Israeli sources claim that 70% of Iran’s air defense batteries have been destroyed in recent days, thereby facilitating an airstrike with minimal resistance.
Israel’s extensive campaign of airstrikes aims to go beyond destroying nuclear centrifuges and Iran’s missile capabilities. It seeks to shatter the foundations of Khamenei’s government and leave it on the brink of collapse, Israeli, Western, and regional officials reported. Netanyahu wants Iran to be weakened enough to compel it to make fundamental concessions and permanently abandon its nuclear enrichment, its ballistic missile program, and its support for militant groups throughout the region, according to sources. By Thursday evening, Iranian media reported that air defenses had targeted ‘hostile objectives’ in northern Tehran.
Three diplomats said that Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since last week. In an apparent reference to the United States, the Supreme National Security Council…