Reuters: Trump warned of US casualties before strikes on Iran

US President Donald Trump was warned of the potential for significant American casualties before authorising a sweeping military assault on Iran, but was also presented with what officials described as the possibility of a “generational shift” in the Middle East in favour of U.S. interests, according to a U.S. official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Pentagon said the operation, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, marked the start of major combat operations and has thrust the region into a new and unpredictable phase of conflict. U.S. and Israeli forces carried out coordinated strikes on multiple sites across Iran on February 28, prompting retaliatory Iranian attacks against Israel and several Gulf Arab countries.

The official said briefers characterised the plan to Trump as a high-risk, high-reward undertaking, underscoring both the dangers to U.S. personnel and the potential strategic gains.

According to the first official, the president received multiple intelligence and military briefings in the lead-up to the strikes. Among those briefing him were CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

On February 26, Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. forces in the Middle East as head of Central Command, travelled to Washington to participate in discussions in the White House Situation Room.

A second U.S. official said the White House had been warned of a range of risks associated with striking Iran. These included the possibility of large-scale Iranian missile attacks on multiple U.S. bases across the region that could overwhelm existing air defences, as well as assaults by Iranian-backed proxy groups targeting American troops in Iraq and Syria.

Despite a substantial U.S. military buildup in the region ahead of the operation, the official said there were acknowledged limits to the air defence systems that had been rapidly deployed.

By Sabina Mammadli