CENTCOM to Brief Trump on Iran Military Options as Khamenei Signals Defiance
US Central Command (CENTCOM) leader is set to brief President Donald Trump on Thursday regarding new military plans Iran.
Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei struck a defiant tone in a Thursday statement, vowing to protect Iran’s “nuclear and missile capabilities.”
The developments come as both the US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, where Tehran’s closure of the waterway and Washington’s naval blockade on Iranian ports have sent global oil prices soaring.
CENTCOM Briefing
CENTCOM Commander, Brad Cooper, will reportedly present Trump with new military options for Iran on Thursday, Axios reported citing two sources with knowledge.
The sources said that Trump will be briefed on three plans, in an indication that the US President is weighing a resumption of military operations against Iran, either to break the deadlock in negotiations or to deliver a decisive blow to end the war.
While Trump views the naval blockade as more effective than bombing, he will consider military action if Iran does not capitulate to his demands, two sources told Axios.
Importantly, Joint Chiefs Chairman, Gen. Dan Caine, is also expected to attend Thursday’s briefing.
Three Military Options
The first potential plan involves a “short and powerful” wave of strikes on Iran, likely targeting infrastructure, with the aim of bringing Iran back to the negotiating table with more flexibility on the nuclear issue, according to three sources.
The second plan includes the partial seizure of the Strait of Hormuz and reopening it to commercial shipping, one source said, suggesting that this operation could involve ground troops.
Meanwhile, the third plan revives the idea of a Special Forces operation to secure Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Moreover, American military planners are accounting for potential Iranian retaliatory strikes against US assets in the region in response to the blockade.
Hypersonic Missile Deployment
Separately, Bloomberg reported that CENTCOM has requested the deployment of a long-range hypersonic missile system – known as Dark Eagle – in the Middle East for possible use against Iran.
According to a source with knowledge, CENTCOM argued that Iran has moved its launchers out of range of the Precision Strike Missile, which can hit targets more than 300 miles (483 km) away.
According to the Library of the Congress, Dark Eagle has a range of 1,725 miles (2,776 km) and is specifically made for “long range conventional precision strike capability” against “time-sensitive and heavily defended targets.”
Sources told Bloomberg that each missile carries a price tag of approximately $15 million, with fewer than eight currently available. Additionally, the outlet noted that each battery is expected to cost roughly $2.7 billion.
While a decision has not been made yet, the deployment of Dark Eagle will mark the first time the US has deployed a hypersonic missile, which has not yet been declared fully operational.
New Hormuz Management
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday touted a “new chapter for the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz” that has been unfolding since the eruption of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28.
In a written message read by a state television anchor, Khamenei said that a “new legal framework and management of the Strait of Hormuz will bring calm, progress and economic benefits to all Gulf nations” as Tehran eliminates what he called “the enemy’s abuses of the waterway.”
“We and our neighbors across the waters of the (Arabian) Gulf and the (Gulf) of Oman share a common destiny. Foreigners who come from thousands of kilometers away to act with greed and malice there have no place in it — except at the bottom of its waters,” he added.
The new Supreme Leader also stressed that Iran will protect its “nuclear and missile capabilities” as a national asset, claiming that the US has endured a “disgraceful defeat” in its plans for Iran.
