Pentagon flags risks of a major operation against Iran

The Pentagon is raising concerns to President Trump about an extended military campaign against Iran, advising that war plans being considered carry risks including U.S. and allied casualties, depleted air defenses and an overtaxed force.

- Alexander Ward, Lara Seligman & Shelby Holliday

The warnings have largely been voiced by Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, within the Defense Department and during meetings of the National Security Council, current and former officials said, but other Pentagon leaders also have noted similar warnings.

Such discussions are always part of the contingency-planning process before military operations, some officials said, noting that military leaders—especially the Joint Chief chair—provide prudent estimates of possible casualties and other potential costs of military operations.

Options being studied for strikes on Iran range from initial limited strikes to a days long aerial campaign aimed at toppling the regime. All options carry risks, but a prolonged campaign in particular could incur significant costs to U.S. forces and munitions stockpiles, officials said, complicating the protection of regional partners if Iran is able to retaliate. If the U.S. uses up large amounts of

At his Board of Peace meeting, Trump had said the U.S. may make a deal with Iran.bloomberg

posted on social-media platform Truth Social later on Monday, following media reports about Caine’s warnings.

The Trump administration is still negotiating with Iran about a potential deal that the U.S. hopes would block Tehran’s pathways toward a nuclear weapon, which Iranian leaders have denied pursuing, while curbing its ballistic-missile program and its support for regional proxy militias such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday in Geneva, officials say, where Iran is expected to present its positions to Trump’s peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Iran has threatened to retaliate as hard as possible against any American attack, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week said his forces could sink a U.S. warship.

In a sign of growing fears about how Iran and its regional proxies might respond to U.S. strikes, the