US was preparing "air campaign" against Iran even under Biden - NBC

The plan for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities began to be developed during former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration.

“It would be a protracted air campaign,” one source told NBC News. 

According to the source, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) began developing a plan for a “comprehensive” strike in the fall of 2024.

It was assumed that several strikes would be required against six targets to completely halt Iran’s nuclear program.

The plan also included targeting air defence systems and ballistic missile storage sites of the Islamic Republic.

At the same time, U.S. authorities were preparing for retaliatory strikes on their military bases in the Middle East.

Several officials from former President Donald Trump’s administration believed that the “expanded” plan to attack Iran “looked feasible.”

Tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv escalated on June 13 amid a series of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites aimed at disrupting Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel considers an existential threat. Iran retaliated with strikes on Israel, raising fears of a broader regional conflict. The U.S., initially hesitant, joined the campaign on June 21, deploying B-2 stealth bombers to drop GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) “bunker buster” bombs on Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. Trump described the strikes as a “spectacular military success,” claiming the sites were “completely obliterated,” though subsequent assessments revealed mixed results.

By Khagan Isayev