US weighs strikes on Iranian leaders, nuclear sites - WSJ

The United States is weighing options to target Iranian political and military leaders as well as nuclear and ballistic missile facilities, as it assembles its largest concentration of air power in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

US and foreign officials told the newspaper that options presented to President Donald Trump range from a broad campaign aimed at killing scores of Iranian leaders in a bid to topple the government, to a more limited air operation focused on nuclear and missile targets.

The military buildup includes F-35 and F-22 fighter jets, additional command-and-control aircraft, strengthened air defenses and a second aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, enabling what officials described as the capacity for a sustained, weeks-long campaign.

Both scenarios would likely involve a potentially weeks-long operation, the report said, underscoring the scale of the current US military posture in the region.