Overview
- Multiple U.S. outlets reported Thursday that Pentagon planners have drawn up strike options that explicitly include the GBU‑43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the MOAB, as a possible weapon to use if President Donald Trump orders renewed attacks.
- The planning lists Iranian energy infrastructure and a suspected underground nuclear site called Pickaxe Mountain as potential targets, but officials stressed inclusion in plans does not equal authorization of a strike.
- Military and technical advisers warn the MOAB detonates above ground and is not designed to penetrate deep rock, so it is unlikely to destroy heavily buried facilities and would mainly blast surface structures and entrances.
- Officials cited in reporting describe part of the calculus as political: planners framed some options as a demonstrative strike before a U.S. retrograde from the region, a choice that could offer a symbolic ‘off‑ramp’ ahead of the midterm elections.
- Analysts say using the MOAB near populated areas or critical infrastructure could cause major civilian harm and provoke Iranian retaliation that would threaten regional targets and global shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.