The US military has drawn up new strike plans against Iran that include the possible use of the GBU-43/B "mother of all bombs" — the largest non-nuclear weapon in the American arsenal — if President Donald Trump orders a resumption of combat operations, CNN reported on Thursday, citing multiple US officials familiar with the planning.
What CNN's reporting says
According to the report, Trump has directed the military to develop additional strike packages covering a wide range of Iranian targets, including a significant share of the country's energy infrastructure, with the MOAB among the weapons under consideration. Separately, planning for strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities — including the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain site, where the US and Israel believe Tehran has stored components of its nuclear program — explicitly includes the bomb, sources told CNN.
The sources said the strikes could be ordered before or after November's midterm elections. One described the planning language as calling for action "prior to US retrograde in CENTCOM AOR" — military phrasing that suggests striking Iran and then rapidly pulling American forces out of the region. Advisers have also discussed framing further attacks as a declared victory followed by a withdrawal, CNN reported.
The weapon: what the MOAB can and cannot do
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast weighs 21,600 pounds (9.8 metric tons) and detonates above the ground, producing a massive blast across a wide area. Developed during the 2003 Iraq War partly as a psychological weapon, it was first used in combat in April 2017, when US forces dropped it on an Islamic State tunnel complex in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province.
But officials familiar with the planning told CNN they doubt the bomb would achieve Trump's stated objectives against Iran. The MOAB is designed to devastate a wide surface area, not to penetrate deeply buried targets — and sites like Pickaxe Mountain are believed to be fortified by layers of granite. Its enormous blast radius could also raise civilian-casualty concerns if used against energy infrastructure near populated areas.
Why the timing matters
The planning comes after months of US bombing that has left Washington and Tehran far from a negotiated settlement, with the administration searching for a way to end the conflict that lets the president claim success. A White House official told CNN the administration does not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist, adding that Trump "keeps all options on the table" to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. A Pentagon official said the department plans for a wide range of scenarios under presidential directives.
No decision to authorize new strikes has been reported, and Reuters said it could not immediately verify CNN's account. Whether the "mother of all bombs" moves from the planning documents to the battlefield remains, for now, the president's call.
Watch: a breakdown of CNN's report on the US weighing the "mother of all bombs" for potential Iran strikes.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Volatile Reaction (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- Hindustan Times: US military weighs using 'mother of all bombs' against Iran in future strikes
- Al Arabiya: US military weighs using 'mother of all bombs' in potential future strikes on Iran
- The Jerusalem Post: Potential Iran strike plans include usage of America's largest non-nuclear bomb
- The Week: What is the GBU-43/B 'mother of all bombs' that Trump may use on Iranian energy sites?