Senior U.S. military officials have informed the leadership of a key U.S. ally in the Middle East that President Donald Trump could authorize a U.S. attack on Iran this weekend, multiple sources have confirmed to Drop Site News. Strikes could commence as early as Sunday, the ally was informed, if the U.S. decides to move forward.
“This isn’t about the nukes or the missile program. This is about regime change,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official who consults for Arab governments and is an informal advisor to the Trump administration on Middle East policy. He told Drop Site that U.S. war planners envision attacks that target nuclear, ballistic, and other military sites around Iran, but will also aim to decapitate the Iranian government, and in particular the leadership and capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces created after the country’s 1979 revolution whose leadership now plays a major role in the country’s politics and economy.
The thinking in the Trump administration, according to the source, is that a successful strike on Iranian leadership would be followed by Iranians returning to the streets to protest, leading to the overthrow of the government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is hoping for an attack,” the former senior intelligence official said, “and assuring Trump that Israel can help put in place a new government that is friendly with the West.”
Two senior Arab intelligence officials told Drop Site that they received word a U.S. attack could come “imminently.”
The U.S. briefing of the key Arab ally comes as regional countries are feverishly engaged in last-minute efforts to mediate talks between the U.S. and Iran to avert war. On Friday, Iran’s foreign minister met with Turkish leaders to push forward a possible diplomatic resolution. Regional countries have been engaged in attempts to establish a format for backchannel talks, including a trilateral meeting involving Iranian, American, and Turkish leaders, aimed at forestalling an expected attack.
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday ruled out the use of its airspace for a potential U.S. attack on Iran in a phone call between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA. The United Arab Emirates also said on Monday it would not allow its airspace or territorial waters to be used in any military action against Iran.
U.S. Central Command declined to comment for this report. The White House referred Drop Site to Trump’s comments on Friday in the Oval Office, where he said that the U.S. has a “large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading towards Iran right now,” while declining to confirm whether Iran had received a deadline to conclude an agreement to avoid a war.
“If such a miscalculation is made by the Americans, it will certainly not unfold the way [U.S. President Donald] Trump imagines—carrying out a quick operation and then, two hours later, tweeting that the operation is over,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia, Iran’s military spokesperson, in an interview on Iranian TV on Thursday. “The scope of war will certainly extend across the entire region,” he added. “From the Zionist regime to countries that host American military bases, all will be within range of our missiles and drones.”
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