White House ordered plans prepared for Iran strike

‘Shocked’ Pentagon acceded to request after Baghdad mortar attack in September that US blamed on Tehran-backed militias, Wall Street Journal says

13 January 2019

Following a September mortar attack near the US embassy in Baghdad that Washington blamed on Iran, US National Security Adviser John Bolton and the National Security Council he leads requested that the Pentagon provide options for striking Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The Pentagon did so, though the report said it was not clear what became of those plans and how close such a potential strike actually was, or if US President Donald Trump was even aware of the exchange.

Still, officials in the Pentagon and State Department were said to have been shocked by the offhand nature of the request — to provide plans for military action against a major regional power in response to a minor attack that caused no casualties.

Read more at https://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-ordered-plans-prepared-for-iran-strike-report