American officials warn attack could trigger significant Iranian retaliations and regional conflict

The US military is planning for a potential sustained campaign against Iran should President Donald Trump order an attack, two senior US officials told Reuters.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, emphasised that the move could trigger a significant Iranian retaliation, risking a prolonged regional conflict which could be far more serious than previous confrontations.

They added, without providing detail, that US strikes would not just target nuclear infrastructure, but also Iranian state and security facilities. US attacks on the country last year primarily targeted nuclear sites.

  • ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml
    6·
    12 小时前

    The only way it would last only weeks is if the US navy gets repelled or destroyed without ever touching boots on Iranian soil. There is no scenario in which the war lasts only weeks and the US wins. One or both of these propositions necessarily has to be false.

    • Majestic@lemmy.ml
      1·
      6 小时前

      Well there is the scenario where they decapitate the government and sue for peace with whoever replaces it and that person gives it to them. A Venezuela type scenario where they agree to decouple from China, give US a veto of where Iranian oil is shipped and give US some tribute money and US in turn removes sanctions, doesn’t bomb them any more and so on. Of course Iran is significantly more a power than Venezuela so it seems less likely this happens but Iran also doesn’t really win from a prolonged fight with the US so it still seems a strong possibility. Trump would have to give them economic relief in the form of removing some sanctions but I think they might go for it unfortunately.

      • ExotiqueMatter@lemmygrad.ml
        3·
        6 小时前

        I don’t believe this is likely.

        Your comparison with Venezuela here neglect just how vastly different the 2 situations are. Not only is Venezuela far weaker militarily, they are also far closer to the US and their only trade routes to Eurasia are by boat which the US navy can easily intercept. Meanwhile Iran is on the same continent as China and Russia’s immense supply chains and industrial bases, they have a huge industrial base of their own, they mostly make their own weapons, they have huge sea and land trade networks.

        Between the western economies making it clear to the whole world that they are now a sinking ship and the fact that even if the US can somehow block the maritime routes between Iran and China, Iran would still have land roads that the US has no ability to blockade whatsoever; making such a deal would make no sense for Iran.

        Yes, Iran would not win from a prolong fight with the US, but they not lose from it either, in fact they are likely able to sustain the attrition of that kind of fight for far longer than the US could, especially with Chinese and Russian supply chains being right there on the same continent as them.

  • RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world
    16·
    2 天前

    So he’s back on the invasion of Iran like in his 1st term. Crazy to think this would have happened 4 years ago if he’d won.