Israel, last week unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on Iran
that set off the largest conflict ever between the two regional adversaries,
with Tehran responding with its own attacks.
Trump has not yet decided on possible US military action
against Iran, telling reporters through his top spokesperson that he would make
his decision within two weeks.
In response, Iran has threatened to directly attack US
forces should they enter Israel’s war campaign, with the country’s Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Wednesday, “Americans should know
that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by
irreparable damage.”
Tehran’s threats aren’t idle, as the country
has retaliated against Washington in the past, most notably in January
2020, when Trump in his first term ordered an airstrike that killed Maj.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
The strike, which happened as Soleimani traveled to Baghdad,
prompted a swift response from Iran, which days later hammered Al-Asad Air Base
in Iraq and another US base in Erbil with 13 ballistic missiles. While no
Americans were killed in the largest ballistic missile attack ever against US
forces abroad, more than 100 were later diagnosed and treated for traumatic
brain injuries.
Reportedly, Trump is considering using the GBU-57 — known as
the Massive Ordnance Penetrator or so-called bunker buster bomb — to damage
Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, a similar attack from Tehran can’t
be ruled out. Iran has the ballistic missiles ready to go, those strikes
could happen in less than 15 minutes.
