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As the U.S. war on Iran enters its sixth month with no tactical end in sight, U.S. Central Command is reportedly crowdsourcing unorthodox methods to “punish Iran.”
“We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” an email to a broad group of military analysts from CENTCOM read, according to reporting from CNN.
Two anonymous sources confirmed CENTCOM’s method of asking for more ideas on how to end the war. It is highly unusual for crowdsourcing to be used in such situations, especially over group emails.
One of the sources speaking to the network attempted to defend the method, acknowledging the lack of ideas from the administration itself.
“You need creative minds at times — especially if you’re running out of conventional options,” that source said.
The email was sent prior to President Donald Trump’s threat to further bomb Iran over the weekend, which was quickly followed by Trump saying that such bombings were no longer necessary due to a dealmaking process that was supposedly unfolding.
If the administration reverses course yet again and begins another major bombing campaign, CIA assessments have concluded that such action would be unlikely to result in the peace deal or long-term conclusion to the war that Trump claims to be seeking.
Despite those assessments, the U.S. reportedly dropped a 2,000-pound bomb on Iran’s Qeshm Island last week. The bomb, called a Mark-84, landed on a home in a residential area, killing two parents and their 2-year-old child in the blast. Two other children in the family survived. If the U.S. was aiming to destroy residential, non-military targets, it would likely constitute a war crime.
Trump’s statements don’t indicate a clear direction for how he plans to proceed with the unsanctioned war. On Saturday, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go” with more attacks against Iran, but also stated that he was holding off for now, citing “the perimeters of a deal” that had “been agreed to” by the two sides. His post also claimed that the deal would include the “Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”
On Sunday, Trump reiterated that talks between the U.S. and Iran were ongoing, voicing optimism regarding an end to the conflict. However, on Monday, Iranian leaders disputed that such direct talks were happening.
“We currently do not have negotiations with America,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.
After news of Baghaei’s statement broke, Trump posted a rant on Truth Social, lamenting what he called Iran’s “duplicitous” negotiation style. Wrote Trump:
They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that they’re not having any discussions, that nothing is being talked about.
“Whether Iran wants to admit it or not, we are, in fact, talking of a solution to a problem that they have caused, for decades,” Trump claimed. “It is very simple, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
However, this is hardly the first time that Trump has claimed negotiations or a deal has come about, only for discussions or an agreed-upon deal to later fall apart, with both sides restarting hostilities shortly after.
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