Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
US President Donald Trump has been presented with military options that include the targeted killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei, according to an Axios report, citing senior administration sources.
One of the scenarios discussed would “take out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs,” a senior Trump advisor was quoted as saying, referring to Khamenei and Mojtaba, who is widely seen as a potential successor to his father.
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However, the advisor stressed that no final decision had been made. “The President hasn’t decided to strike yet. I know that because we haven’t struck. He might never do it. He might wake up tomorrow and say, ‘That’s it,’” the source said, underscoring the fluid nature of the deliberations.
According to the report, the US Defence Department has laid out multiple military options before Trump. “They have something for every scenario,” the advisor said, adding that the ultimate course of action remains uncertain. “What the President chooses no one knows. I don’t think he knows.”
A second source confirmed that a plan involving the killing of Khamenei and his son had been floated to Trump several weeks ago, indicating that such a possibility has been under consideration for some time.
Another senior advisor said Trump is deliberately maintaining strategic ambiguity. “Trump is keeping his options open. He could decide on an attack at any moment,” the official said.
Responding to media speculation, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declined to comment on specific military plans. “The media may continue to speculate on the President’s thinking all they want, but only President Trump knows what he may or may not do,” she said.
Any direct strike on Iran’s top leadership would mark a dramatic escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran and could have far-reaching consequences for regional stability in the Middle East.
TRUMP PUSHES IRAN TO MAKE DEAL, THEN A WARNING
Trump on Thursday intensified his warning to Iran, saying Tehran must agree to a meaningful nuclear deal or “bad things will happen,” even as indirect talks continue in Geneva, Switzerland, to defuse rising tensions.
US and Iranian officials are engaged in backchannel negotiations aimed at easing a deepening nuclear standoff. Washington is pressing Tehran to dismantle or sharply curb its nuclear programme, arguing that its enrichment activities and growing stockpiles pose proliferation risks. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, maintains its programme is for civilian purposes, and insists enrichment is its sovereign right.
Amid reports of possible American strikes on Iran, the US is deploying one of its largest concentrations of air power to the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war. The build-up includes advanced fighter jets — F-35s, F-22s, F-15s and F-16s — along with command-and-control aircraft and reinforced air defence systems.
The US Navy currently has 13 ships in the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and nine missile-capable destroyers. A second carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, and its strike group are also en route.
According to reports, the US military could be prepared to act as early as this weekend, though Trump has not authorised any strike. Senior national security officials meeting in the White House Situation Room were told that all deployed forces are expected to be in place by mid-March.
With military assets surging and negotiations showing limited progress, the standoff is entering a critical phase — one that could determine whether Washington and Tehran step back from confrontation or edge closer to open conflict.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
