The U.S. military has drawn up new plans to strike Iran – possibly with the “mother of all bombs” – as President Donald Trump looks for a way out of an increasingly unpopular war, but officials doubt the strikes would accomplish much beyond the spectacle.
The plans include possibly using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, or MOAB, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, reported CNN.
A source familiar with the Pentagon’s planning said military officials have developed options that would amount to a “fireworks show,” with the goal of giving Trump an off-ramp from the conflict even if the strikes fail to achieve the goals he set for the war.
The MOAB is the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, with targets including Pickaxe Mountain, where the U.S. and Israel believe Tehran has stored parts of its nuclear program, and multiple U.S. officials told the network the strikes could come before or after the midterms.
One source said the planning language describes an attack “prior to U.S. retrograde in CENTCOM AOR,” which suggests the administration could launch the strikes, declare victory and quickly pull troops out of the region.
Military insiders are skeptical the bomb would accomplish meaningful objectives. The MOAB can destroy an area equal to nine city blocks, but sources said it likely can’t penetrate deep enough to reach the facilities at Pickaxe, which are believed to be protected by layers of granite.
“The MOAB is a massive information operation-type weapon that is great for huge area clearance but not much else,” one source told CNN. “It is definitely not designed as a deep penetration warhead.”
The same source suggested Trump has backed himself into a corner.
“POTUS has unfortunately put himself in a situation where he is almost compelled to do something,” the source said. Without munitions built to reach that deep, “you have to look at psychological effects for which the MOAB is well-equipped.”
After more than six months of U.S. bombing, there’s little sign of a negotiated settlement, and Republicans are bracing for backlash in next month’s midterms. Some officials privately question whether the White House has a strategy that could actually end the war.
Trump has publicly pledged not to take new action before the midterms, but several advisers said privately they don’t know whether that promise will hold until Election Day.
Behind the scenes, Trump has also brushed aside allies who have urged him to simply bring the troops home. Doing so, he has argued, would look like defeat.
Many inside the administration agree that the only way to decisively defeat Iran would be a ground invasion that could cost thousands of American lives. No one is currently pushing for it.
A White House official declined to comment on “sensitive military plans that may or may not exist,” and said Trump “keeps all options on the table to ensure that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump is the only president to have used the MOAB in combat. In 2017, during his first term, he authorized dropping the 21,600-pound bomb on a network of fortified ISIS tunnels in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials said the strike killed 36 ISIS fighters and destroyed three tunnels along with weapons and ammunition, and officials said no civilians were hurt. Afterward, U.S. military officials faced questions about whether a bomb that size was necessary, and CNN reported they would likely face the same questions if it were used against Iran.
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