Trump instructs his team to develop plan to defeat Iran without protracted war - media

President Donald Trump, who has sent a significant force to the Middle East, led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, wants to carry out a quick and decisive operation against the Iranian ayatollah regime that would not lead to a protracted war in the region.

He has tasked his aides with developing a plan for such an invasion, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports, citing American officials.

According to Trump's plan, such an attack should deal the Islamic republic a strong enough blow to make it make concessions to the United States and abandon the development of nuclear weapons, as well as stop the persecution of protesters.

According to the WSJ's interlocutors, among the options being discussed is the so-called "grand plan", developed by the White House and the Pentagon and providing for a series of powerful bombings of the regime's facilities and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

A smaller option is to strike symbolic targets in the Islamic republic, leaving room for increased attacks if Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, does not agree to a deal that suits Trump. The US President has also considered using the threat of military force to force concessions from Tehran, the interlocutors said.

WSJ sources also said that an operation to capture Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, similar to the one that took Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by special forces, in Iran would be much more difficult because of the strict security of the supreme leader and Tehran's distance from the coast.

Even if Khamenei is toppled, it is unclear whether the country's next government will be more friendly. Most likely, control will pass to senior members of the IRGC, who could maintain or even strengthen the regime's hardline policies, the officials said.

Reuters sources reported that Trump's goal is to create the conditions for a change in Iran's political leadership. Anti-government protests erupted in the country in late December, which were brutally suppressed. According to official figures alone, more than 3,100 people were killed.

On Friday, the US Navy began taking up combat positions in anticipation of an operation against Iran. One of the destroyers that arrived in the Middle East as part of an aircraft carrier group docked in the Israeli port of Eilat. F-15E multi-role fighters were also ready at the US base in Jordan, The New York Times reported.

Against this background, as Ukrainian News Agency reported, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, arrived in Moscow the day before to meet with president vladimir putin. The visit became known after the fact from a Kremlin statement, which did not disclose the details of the discussions.

Iranian Ambassador to russia Kazem Jalali said that the main topics of the talks were "important regional and international issues" as well as "expanding bilateral cooperation." Chief of Staff of the Iranian Army, Major General Amir Khatami, in turn warned of strikes on Israel in response to a possible US military operation against Tehran.