By Kevin Liptak, Kristen Holmes, Zachary Cohen, Natasha Bertrand, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump faces one of the weightiest decisions of his second term as he orders the largest military buildup in the Middle East in 22 years.
If he decides to go ahead with an attack on Iran, his options now range from more targeted strikes to sustained operations that could potentially last for weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. Some include plans to take out Tehran’s leaders. Many would be on a much larger scale than the hourslong bombing run that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities last summer, according to people familiar with the plans.
People familiar with the plans said the US military could be ready as soon as this weekend to strike Iran, but US officials and regional diplomats with knowledge of the diplomatic talks with Tehran do not expect strikes to come that soon. Middle East envoy and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — who has helped lead the US negotiating team — is among a number of Trump advisers who are hopeful that they can reach a nuclear deal with Iran, according to a source familiar with his thinking,
US troops have not yet received a target list for potential strikes on Iran, a sign Trump has not yet “pulled the trigger” on ordering any specific military operation, according to a source familiar with the planning. White House officials say he continues to prefer a diplomatic solution.
However, many now say they see diminishing prospects of an agreement that satisfies all of the president’s demands.
Trump, so far, has not publicly laid out everything he is hoping to achieve by launching a new war. Nor has he made serious attempts to gain the buy-in either from the American public or members of Congress, who have been away from Washington this week as he mulls his options. And experts remain skeptical Iran would make the concessions that Trump has publicly demanded, like giving up uranium enrichment entirely.
Trump has offered vague warnings to the Islamic Republic to agree to a deal, the terms of which remain unclear. He said Thursday morning in Washington that he would know “over the next probably 10 days” whether an agreement was possible. Later, aboard Air Force One, he extended the timeline to 15 days.
“They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region and they must make a deal, or if that doesn’t happen — maybe you can understand if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but bad things will happen if it doesn’t,” Trump said at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday.
Pressed later what “bad things” could occur, Trump refused to elaborate.
“I’m not going to talk to you about that,” he said.
Trump, who promised as a candidate to avoid becoming embroiled in foreign wars, has been vocally wary of approving an operation that lacks a decisive outcome and could put Americans in harm’s way.
He has received numerous briefings on the potential options. They range in scale, from attacks on nuclear or missile sites all the way to attempts to take out government leaders and topple the regime. All the options would address, at least in part, the threat of Iran launching military strikes against Israel or American military bases in the region, as well as Iranian proxy groups potentially obtaining a nuclear or dirty bomb.
Trump has hinted at a desire for regime change in Iran, but there is little clarity inside the administration of what might happen if the leadership in Tehran falls. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during congressional testimony last month that no one really knows who might replace Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei if he was ousted.
Because Trump has not yet decided on a course of action, all the military assets needed to conduct a range of operations are in place, or will be in the coming days, sources have said. That inc