--- title: U.S. May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report description: The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump’s national security team asked the Pentagon last year for 'options to strike Iran.' canonical: https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-13T14:45:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:29:17.460Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report og:description: The request allegedly generated concern at the Pentagon and State Department og:url: https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9b3cae52e3e938/6989432b457a5226f8d604d5/trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report twitter:description: The request allegedly generated concern at the Pentagon and State Department twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9b3cae52e3e938/6989432b457a5226f8d604d5/trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg Contributor Jan 13, 2019 2:45 PM UTC  National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks during a news briefing at the White House November 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks during a news briefing at the White House November 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg Contributor Jan 13, 2019 2:45 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump’s national security team asked the Pentagon last year for “options to strike Iran,” the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified U.S. officials. The request was made after militants in Iraq aligned with Iran fired mortars at Baghdad’s diplomatic district, which includes the U.S. Embassy, the report said. The request generated concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former U.S. officials told the newspaper. Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton led the approach to the Pentagon, which compiled options, the newspaper reported. It isn’t clear whether the information compiled by the Pentagon was relayed to the White House or whether Trump was aware of the request, the newspaper said. Relations between Iran and the U.S. have become more confrontational since Trump’s election and his May 2018 decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal and reimpose severe economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/"},"headline":"White House May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report","datePublished":"2019-01-13T14:45:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:29:17.460Z","description":"The request allegedly generated concern at the Pentagon and State Department","url":"https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/","keywords":["National Security","White House","Bloomberg","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9b3cae52e3e938/6989432b457a5226f8d604d5/trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Golnar Motevalli / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e9b3cae52e3e938/6989432b457a5226f8d604d5/trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump-iran-strike-options-john-bolton","caption":"Press Sscretary Sarah Sanders Holds Media Briefing At The White House","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/national-security/","name":"National Security"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5501434/united-states-iran-strike-report/","name":"White House May Have Sought Options to Strike Iran: Report"}}]}] ```