President Donald Trump has been briefed on a wide range of covert and military tools for use in Iran, two Department of Defense officials told the BBC’s US partner, CBS News.
Long-range missile strikes remain an option for a potential US intervention, but Pentagon officials have also presented cyber operations and psychological campaign responses, the sources said.
Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods from countries with commercial ties to Iran on Monday, as rights groups say more than 600 protesters have been killed in three weeks of anti-government protests.
Iran’s foreign minister has said Tehran is open to talks with Washington, but remains “prepared for war”.
Trump’s national security team is expected to hold a meeting at the White House on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, the sources said, but it is unclear whether the president himself will be in attendance.
The US president had earlier said that his military was weighing “very strong options” to intervene if more protesters were killed. Trump said Iranian leaders had called him “to negotiate”, but added that the US “may have to act before a meeting”.
Frustration over the collapse of the Iranian currency and economic mismanagement has expanded into a crisis of legitimacy for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said an Iranian official had also contacted Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, adding that Tehran’s public stance is “quite [different] from the messages the administration is receiving privately”.
However, she warned that the US president is “unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary”.
The two sources, who requested anonymity to discuss national security matters with CBS, said that any US military response in Iran will likely involve air power, but that planners are also considering options to disrupt Iranian command structures and communications.
The US has urged its citizens in Iran to leave or have a plan to depart the country that does not require US government assistance.
