Trump Rejected Army's Iran Attack Plan, US Damaged Only 1 Of 3 Key Nuke Sites: Report
US President Donald Trump did not want to engage the US in a prolonged conflict in West Asia with Iran.
US President Donald Trump personally rejected a sweeping military plan to expand US strikes on Iran, broadcaster NBC News said in a new report, citing current and former officials familiar with the deliberations.
The proposal, drawn up by the US Central Command (CENTCOM), would have targeted three more nuclear sites and unfolded over several weeks. The report said that the plan stretched far beyond the limited strikes Trump eventually authorized last month.
The report highlighted that the US President wanted to be consistent with his desire to avoid prolonged foreign entanglements for the US military and is said to have pushed back on the idea.
Officials told the broadcaster that Trump was wary of dragging the US into a deeper conflict with Tehran and concerned about potential casualties on both sides.
The CENTCOM plan, dubbed the 'All-In Plan" by some officials, had envisioned a sustained offensive, but the NBC News report said Trump's instinct was to opt for a shorter, more targeted action.
The US strikes last month targeted three key nuclear enrichment sites in Iran — Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
According to two serving officials, the attack on Fordow, considered a cornerstone of Iran's nuclear ambitions, was the most significant, with US intelligence assessing that it may have set back enrichment operations there by up to two years.
Much of the Trump administration's public messaging after the strikes has zeroed in on Fordow. In a Pentagon briefing responding to early Defense Intelligence Agency assessments, which suggested Iran's nuclear program overall had been delayed by only three to six months, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine focused heavily on Fordow's impact, offering little comment on the strikes at Natanz and Isfahan.
Before the strikes, US officials were aware that Iran had hardened facilities and stockpiles of enriched uranium at Natanz and Isfahan and some likely buried too deep even for the US military's 30,000-pound GBU-57 'bunker buster" bombs, the NBC News report said. These massive bombs, which had never been used in combat until the Iran operation, were specifically designed for deeply fortified sites like Fordow, built into the side of a mountain.
However, by 2023, intelligence suggested that Iran was expanding tunnel networks at Natanz, possibly digging deeper than the GBU-57's reach. Isfahan, too, was believed to have underground tunnels. While the US deployed GBU-57s at Natanz, it opted for Tomahawk missile strikes on surface targets at Isfahan, avoiding the bunker busters there altogether.
view comments
First Published:
July 17, 2025, 20:08 IST
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump weighed Nvidia breakup but was told it would be 'hard'
Donald Trump considered breaking up Nvidia to boost AI chip competition. He learned it was a tough task. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met Trump at the White House. Nvidia can now sell H20 chips to China. Trump praised Huang and other tech leaders. Huang lauded Trump's AI approach. Nvidia's market value surpassed $4 trillion. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads US President Donald Trump said he considered attempting to break up Nvidia Corp. to increase competition in artificial intelligence chips before finding out 'it's not easy in that business.''I said, 'Look, we'll break this guy up,' before I learned the facts here,' Trump said Wednesday at an AI summit in Washington. Trump said he was told by aides that doing so was 'very hard' and that the company held a substantial advantage over all competitors that would take years to overcome.'I figured we could go in and we could sort of break them up a little bit, get them a little competition, and I found out it's not easy in that business,' Trump declined to went on to praise Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, who was in the audience for his event. Huang met earlier this month with the president at the White House, and last week the company announced it would be allowed to resume selling its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China as part of a recent trade truce with Beijing. The Trump administration had previously frozen the sale of those chips to China.'What a job you've done,' Trump said. Throughout his address, the president name-checked and complimented Huang, along with other tech industry leaders, for their investments in the in the day, Huang used his session on stage to praise the president's approach to AI. 'America's unique advantage that no other country can possibly have is President Trump,' Huang earlier this month became the first company ever to surpass $4 trillion in market capitalization, as it has profited heavily from the boom in demand for AI hardware to power large language Justice Department in 2024 conducted an investigation seeking evidence of possible anticompetitive behavior by at the event Wednesday unveiled his AI Action Plan , which, paired with a series of executive orders, is designed to aid the industry by reducing regulatory burdens.
Mint
29 minutes ago
- Mint
Donald Trump admits he wanted an Nvidia breakup but found out ‘it's not easy in that business'
US President Donald Trump has admitted he considered breaking up Jensen Huang's chipmaking company Nvidia Corp. to increase competition in the artificial intelligence chip space before he found out that 'it's not easy in that business.' Speaking at an AI summit in Washington on Wednesday, Trump said, 'I said, 'Look, we'll break this guy up,' before I learned the facts here.' He was told by his aides that breaking up Nvidia was 'very hard' and that the company had a substantial advantage over its competitors, which will take years to change, Trump said. 'I figured we could go in and we could sort of break them up a little bit, get them a little competition, and I found out it's not easy in that business,' the Republican leader added. Nvidia has not commented on Trump's admission. Speaking further at the summit, Donald Trump went on to praise Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was attending the event. 'What a job you've done,' he said. Earlier this month, Huang met Trump at the White House. Nvidia had last week announced it would be allowed to resume selling its H20 artificial intelligence chips to China as part of a recent trade truce with Beijing. The Trump administration had previously frozen the sale of those chips to China. At Wednesday's event, Trump name-checked and praised Huang, as well as other tech industrialists, for their investments in the US. Jensen Huang also used the stage earlier in the day to compliment Donald Trump's approach on AI. 'America's unique advantage that no other country can possibly have is President Trump,' Huang said. Earlier this month, Nvidia became the first company ever to surpass $4 trillion in market capitalisation, as it has profited heavily from the boom in demand for AI hardware to power large language models. The Trump administration released a new artificial intelligence blueprint on Wednesday that aims to loosen environmental rules and vastly expand AI exports to allies, in a bid to maintain the American edge over China in the critical technology. Trump marked the plan's release with a speech where he laid out the stakes of the technological arms race with China, calling it a fight that will define the 21st century.
New Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220 million in deal with Trump to restore federal funding
NEW YORK: Columbia University announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the White House said. "This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty," acting University President Claire Shipman said. The school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support, including more than $400 million in grants canceled earlier this year. The administration pulled the funding because of what it described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus during the Israel-Hamas war. Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university's student disciplinary process and applying a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel. Wednesday's agreement — which does not include an admission of wrongdoing — codifies those reforms while preserving the university's autonomy, Shipman said.
