The Pentagon has given President Donald Trump a "numerous" options for action against Iran if the nuclear deal fails. One of them includes eliminating Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is seen as a possible successor to his father.
"They have options for any eventuality. One scenario is 'takes out' the Ayatollah, his son and the mullahs," a senior Trump official told Axios.
According to another presidential adviser, the plan to assassinate Khamenei and his son, a senior state official and cleric, was outlined to Trump several weeks ago.
"Nobody knows what the President will choose. I don't think he knows himself," the first source said.
Two other Trump administration officials told Reuters that planning for an operation against Tehran is already at an "advanced stage." Options include targeting individual members of Iran's leadership and even attempting to overthrow the ayatollah's regime.
The sources, however, could not specify which individuals might be targeted by the American strikes or how the US military would carry out a change of power in the country without involving large ground forces.
Earlier, sources at the agency reported that Trump was preparing a large-scale operation lasting several weeks, including strikes on the centers of power of the ayatollah's regime.
Arash and Arsham Reisinezhad, a fellow at Tufts University and an associate professor at Regent College London, respectively, also said that Washington was considering a scenario of "decapitation" of the regime in Iran.
They wrote in Foreign Policy that the US is preparing possible targeted strikes against the regime's top leaders, including Khamenei, as well as key military and political leaders, nuclear facilities and communication hubs.
Last week, Trump publicly spoke about the possibility of regime change in Iran, saying that this could be a better option. He refused to name the person he would like to see at the helm of the country, but noted: "There are such people."
The US President also promised on Thursday to make a decision on further actions against Iran in the next 10-15 days, warning that if a nuclear deal is not reached, "bad things" await the Islamic republic.
A senior US official said that the Trump administration is ready to consider allowing Iran to enrich uranium "symbolically" if this does not create the possibility of developing a nuclear bomb.
"If the Iranians want to prevent an attack, they must make us an offer we cannot refuse," he said.
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