Overview
- The New York Times investigation published this week details how, in February, Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a secret Situation Room pitch with Israeli security chiefs on screens and even floated dissident Reza Pahlavi as a successor.
- U.S. agencies the next day warned the promised uprising and regime change were unrealistic, with the CIA director calling the scenarios "farcical" and Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying "it's bullshit."
- Trump, persuaded by the prospect of swift strikes, focused on killing top leaders and wrecking Iranian military sites and said the regime-change piece would be "their problem."
- An intelligence tip that Iran's top leaders might be gathered sped up the choice, and after a final late-February meeting Trump said "I think we need to do it."
- The order followed from Air Force One with the words "Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck," capping a process that sidelined warnings from Vice President J.D. Vance and senior commanders about costs, thin interceptor stockpiles, and the risk to the Strait of Hormuz.