The US is preparing a range of military options that could target senior Iranian figures, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps if the current ceasefire collapses.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, American defence officials are drawing up contingency plans focused on Iran’s military presence in and around the Strait of Hormuz, CNN reports.
The vital waterway accounts for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas exports along with other vital commodities.
Officials are said to be considering ‘dynamic targeting’ strategies aimed at Iran’s fast attack boats, minelaying vessels and other asymmetric maritime assets operating across the Strait as well as in the southern Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
These capabilities are viewed as central to Iran’s ability to disrupt global shipping routes and apply pressure on international energy supplies.
Military officials are also developing plans including potential strikes on infrastructure and energy facilities and targeting top figures and ‘obstructionists’ within the regime.
One source said that IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi has been referenced as part of those considerations.
Vahidi serves on the Supreme National Security Council, the high-level group currently managing Iran’s affairs.
American defence officials are drawing up contingency plans focused on Iran’s military presence in and around the Strait of Hormuz
Vahidi serves on the Supreme National Security Council, the high-level group currently managing Iran’s affairs
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This body has effectively assumed control while Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei remains out of the public eye and in hiding due to injuries sustained in US-Israeli airstrikes.
Others on the council include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who has emerged as a key figure and is acting as the chief negotiator with Washington.
He sits alongside figures such as Saeed Jalili, who represents the supreme leader and is known for his hardline stance against the United States, President Masoud Pezeshkian, who formally heads the council and the council’s new secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr.
Despite the planning, officials have cautioned that any renewed strikes in the Strait of Hormuz may not quickly restore safe passage for shipping.
A source familiar with the proposals told CNN: ‘Unless you can unequivocally prove that 100 per cent of Iran’s military capability is destroyed or near certainty that the US can mitigate the risk with our capability, it will come down to how badly is [Trump] willing to accept the risk and start pushing ships through the strait.’
There are also concerns within US circles about the risks of widening the conflict.
Officials have warned that targeting infrastructure would mark a significant and controversial escalation.
It comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly argued that Iran’s leadership is divided following joint US Israeli operations that killed several senior figures, including the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, he claimed internal divisions are complicating diplomatic efforts, stating: ‘Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!
‘The infighting is between the “Hardliners,” who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the “Moderates,” who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!’
Speaking on MS Now yesterday, Trump continued that line of argument, saying: ‘They’re all messed up. They have no idea who their leader is. You know, we took out, really, three levels of leaders. And everybody that was even close behind him.’
He added: ‘So they have a hard time figuring out who the hell can speak for the country. They just don’t know.’
While Trump has extended the initial two-week ceasefire, officials stress that the pause is temporary.
Sources say it is not intended to be indefinite, and the US military remains ready to resume operations if required.
The president has expressed frustration at Iran’s refusal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was effectively shut to international shipping after the initial wave of US-Israeli strikes.
And the US on April 13 began enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports and has redirected at least 33 ships as of Thursday.
The Pentagon announced that US forces have intercepted at least three ships, including two in the Indian Ocean 2,000 miles from the Persian Gulf.
The most recent action saw a ‘sanctioned stateless vessel’ transporting Iranian oil boarded overnight on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt boasted about the success of President Trump’s blockade and its effect on Iran’s economy.
She said: ‘We are completely strangling their [Iran’s] economy through this blockade. They are losing $500 million a day.
‘Kharg Island is completely full, they can’t move oil in or out, they can’t even pay their own people as a result of the economic leverage that President Trump has inflicted on them.’
She added: ‘Not only have they been significantly weakened and obliterated militarily, but they are losing economically and financially every single moment that passes with this blockade.’
