The National Security Council sought options for a military strike against Iran last year following a mortar attack near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad by a Shiite militia group aligned with Tehran, according to a report published early Sunday morning.
Three mortars landed in an abandoned lot in the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone in September. They resulted in no casualties, but it was enough to prompt national security adviser John Bolton to request from the Pentagon a plan to take action against Iran, as well as Syria and Iraq, sources told the Wall Street Journal.
The request related to Iran alarmed officials in both the State Department and the Pentagon. “It definitely rattled people,” a former senior U.S. administration official told the outlet. “People were shocked. It was mind-boggling how cavalier they were about hitting Iran.”
While the Pentagon complied with the request and a number of talks took place, it is unclear whether Iran strike options were ever provided to the White House. Also uncertain is whether President Trump was aware of the request and if there was ever a serious plan to attack Iran.
The National Security Council “coordinates policy and provides the president with options to anticipate and respond to a variety of threats,” NSC spokesman Garret Marquis told the outlet. “We continue to review the status of our personnel following attempted attacks on our embassy in Baghdad and our Basra consulate, and we will consider a full range of options to preserve their safety and our interests.”
In one of the discussions, then-deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel said the U.S. needed to retaliate after the mortar attack in Iraq, which she described as “an act of war.” Ricardel was forced out of the White House in November, one day after first lady Melania Trump publicly called for her ouster.
