Iran’s ultra-hardline Kayhan newspaper, managed by a representative of the Supreme Leader, has repeated weekend calls to assassinate US President Donald Trump to avenge the 2020 killing of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani.
The US military has in recent days deployed long-range bombers at a strategic Indian Ocean airbase amid escalation of tensions with Tehran, a move which presaged major bombing campaigns against Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003.
In an exclusive interview with Iran International, former CENTCOM commander and CIA chief David Petraeus described the deployment as a step toward preparing for military action against Iran if it failed to reach a deal with the Trump administration over its disputed nuclear program.
"They are also steps to show that we are very serious and that you should not do this, and therefore trying to deter Iran from doing what would be unacceptable and would force the United States to take action," he said.
Petraeus said, "There's great concern about how close Iran is to the possibility of having a nuclear weapon. They're literally just one turn of the enrichment process from having weapons-grade uranium. That is something that President Trump has said he will never allow the Iranians to have a nuclear weapon."
Trump has warned Iran would be bombed if it did not agree to a new nuclear deal, prompting Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to say on Monday that the Islamic Republic would deal a "strong blow" in retaliation for any attack.
Iran's retaliation
Iran has threatened to target American interests in the region, including its strategic Diego Garcia naval base in the Indian Ocean if it is attacked by the US.
However, Petraeus says Trump would not stop at a limited attack on the nuclear sites and would go after the Islamic Republic's air defense and missile capabilities.
"You probably have to take out some of the retaliatory capacity of Iran as well because you don't want to just take out the nuclear program and then have them go after the bases where we have forces, and that would then bring in all these other countries, of course," he said.
"This is not just a surgical attack on discrete nuclear capabilities. This is against the retaliatory capabilities, against the defense capability, and that's what has to be done if you're going to carry out this operation."
Plan to destroy Iran's nuclear program
Petraeus said he actually developed the plan to destroy Iran's nuclear program over 15 years ago when he was the commander of the US Central Command.
"It's publicly known that we actually rehearsed that plan one time inside the United States, with all the planes flying all the distances that they would have to fly, the refuelers, all the command and control, the jammers that drop, the munitions that we would drop, and so forth. And it all worked."
"We were prepared one time actually, to set the theater, in other words, to identify all the locations from which the planes would fly, where they would be based. The munitions were in place, the food, fuel, water, etc. All was set. We thought there was a likelihood of this. We told the White House we probably should get more prepared than we were."
'Israel proved it's possible'
Petraeus said Iran currently "does have more effective, more elaborate air and ballistic missile defenses" than in the past. However, he said, "Israel penetrated them twice, showing that that can be done."
Last October, Israeli air strikes against Iran's military sites knocked out the country's last three Russian-provided S-300 air defense missile systems, leaving the country "naked", Fox News reported citing US and Israeli officials.
The surface-to-air S-300s were the last in the Islamic Republic's arsenal after one was destroyed in an attack in April 2024 also likely carried out by Israel, Fox News quoted a senior US official as saying.
Still, Petraeus says Iran has "more retaliatory capability in terms of missiles and so forth, even though Israel dramatically reduced the ability of Iran to make solid fuel rocket engines from several per day to one or two per week."
Bunker busters
The former CENTCOM commander said the US military has bombs like the 30,000-pound GBU-57, aka Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), that "is very accurate and can penetrate very hardened targets".
"It would be used against the most deeply buried hardened targets... you can imagine which target that might be," he said, adding that the use of such bunker busters is "not just possible but would be necessary" in a potential strike against Iran.
Iran’s most secretive nuclear facility, known as Fordow, has been carved deep into a mountain in central Iran, and is reportedly some 90 meters (295 feet) deep. It is also protected by several feet of reinforced concrete.
In 2012, defense experts contacted by Reuters believed the chances of a US strike against Fordow succeeding are slim. However, Petraeus says, "they can do enormous damage and destruction".
On Sunday, the daily expressed support for what it described as revenge for the drone strike in Iraq, ordered by Trump during his first time in office, just one day after a piece had warned "a few bullets are going to be fired into that empty skull of his".
"The shot hasn’t even been fired yet, and already a bunch of local lackeys and US bootlickers are totally freaking out,... since their skulls are as empty as Trump’s, they’ve gotten scared," the outlet wrote on Sunday.
Since the assassination, Trump and several of his aides were put on a hit list but the issue of Soleimani's killing had been somewhat dulled down in recent months amid Trump's renewed campaign of 'maximum pressure' and calls to make a fresh nuclear deal.
The column, presented as a fictional conversation, called advocates of nuclear talks with the US “America’s bootlickers”. Iran's Supreme Leader continues to refuse to engage in direct talks, but has warmed to the idea of using mediation in the wake of Trump's warning that if a new nuclear deal is not reached within two months, the US will bomb Iran.
The former head of the Parliament's National Security Committee reacted to the newspaper's piece on Saturday, criticizing it as inflammatory while the situation remains so volatile.
Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh wrote on X, “Iranians hate those who promote war and terrorism. If you had the courage for war, you would’ve gone to Lebanon. If you have an assassination plan, don’t attribute your recklessness to Iran.
“The nation pays the price for the extremists’ warmongering and terroristic bluffs. The government must disavow this destructive movement.”
Tabnak website also criticized the article, warning of its costs to a nation already suffering a social and economic crisis.
"A newspaper, which happens to be state-affiliated, is publicly promoting a slogan whose cost will ultimately be paid by the people. It seems that if these ultra-revolutionary individuals truly have the motivation to sacrifice for the country, there are plenty of real opportunities to demonstrate that sacrifice," it wrote.
The paper said assassinating Trump would be “a good thing and would bring joy to Palestinians” and armed groups.
The US continues to confront Iran's Houthi militia in Yemen in the Red Sea region amid the group's maritime blockade on commercial shipping.
Ordered by the Supreme Leader in 2023 as a means to target Israeli shipping in order to force a ceasefire in Gaza, the blockade has since affected global shipping, with Trump vowing to tackle the group head on.
