The options, among several sets of target types under consideration, include strikes with a particular focus on “dynamic targeting” of Iran’s capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz, southern Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, the sources said, describing potential attacks against small fast attack boats, minelaying vessels and other asymmetric assets that have helped Tehran effectively shut down those key waterways and use them as leverage over the US.
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US military developing plans to target Iran’s Strait of Hormuz defenses if ceasefire fails
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US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V Touska, on April 20, after the Iranian-flagged vessel attempted to pass through the US naval blockade.
US forces patrol the Arabian Sea near M/V …
US military officials are developing new plans to target Iran’s capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz in the event the current ceasefire with Iran falls apart, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The options, among several sets of target types under consideration, include strikes with a particular focus on “dynamic targeting” of Iran’s capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz, southern Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, the sources said, describing potential attacks against small fast attack boats, minelaying vessels and other asymmetric assets that have helped Tehran effectively shut down those key waterways and use them as leverage over the US.
That shut down has caused massive ripples in the global economy, threatening to undermine President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce US inflation and has occurred despite a ceasefire pausing US strikes that began on April 7.
While the military has targeted Iran’s Navy, much of the first month of bombing was focused on targets away from the strait that would allow the US military to strike further inside Iran itself. The new plans call for a much more concentrated bombing campaign around strategic waterways.
CNN has previously reported that a large percentage of the country’s coastal defense missiles remain intact. Iran also has numerous small boats that could be used as platforms to launch attacks on ships, complicating US efforts to open the strait.
Military strikes around the strait, on their own, are unlikely to immediately re-open the waterway, multiple sources, including a senior shipping broker, told CNN.
Ships are anchored near the shoreline on April 22, in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Bandar Abbas is a port city and the capital of Hormozgan Province, along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
Ships are anchored near the shoreline on April 22, in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Bandar Abbas is a port city and the capital of Hormozgan Province, along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. Stringer/Getty Images
“Unless you can unequivocally prove that 100% of Iran’s military capability is destroyed or near certainty that the US can mitigate the risk with our capability, it will come down to how badly is [Trump] willing to accept the risk and start pushing ships through the strait,” one source familiar with the military planning said.
The US military could also follow through on Trump’s previous threat to strike dual-use and infrastructure targets, including energy facilities, in an effort to compel Iran to the negotiating table, the sources told CNN. Trump has said the US would resume combat operations in the absence of a diplomatic resolution to the war.
Striking infrastructure targets would represent a controversial escalation in the conflict, some current and former US officials have warned.
Another option developed by military planners is to target individual Iranian military leaders and other “obstructionists” within the regime who US officials have recently suggested are actively undermining negotiations, one of the sources noted. That includes Ahmad Vahidi, who serves as Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the source said.
“Due to operations security, we do not discuss future or hypothetical movements,” a Defense Department official said when asked about target planning. “The U.S. military continues to provide the President options, and all options remain on the table.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Iranian regime is “fractured” after joint US-Israeli operations killed a number of high-ranking officials, including the country’s supreme leader. In a social media post on Thursday, Trump pointed to an apparent split between the IRGC and members of the government who had been engaged in talks with the US as one challenge standing in the way of a diplomatic agreement.
“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know! The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the “Moderates,” who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!” Trump wrote.
A woman holds a poster of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally, amid a ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on April 19.
A woman holds a poster of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-US and anti-Israel rally, amid a ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tehran, Iran, on April 19. Majid-Asgaripour/Wana News Agency/Reuters
Additional US strikes would likely also target Iran’s remaining military capabilities, including missiles, launchers and production facilities that were not destroyed in the initial wave of US-Israeli attacks or may have been moved to new strategic positions since the ceasefire started, the sources added.
CNN previously reported that roughly half of Iran’s missile launchers and thousands of one-way attack drones had survived the US bombing campaign, US intelligence had assessed.
Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged during a press briefing that Iran has moved some of its remaining military assets to new locations during the ceasefire and threatened to hit those targets should Iran refuse to agree to a deal.
Trump appears wary of restarting the war with Iran and would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, CNN has reported. But at the same time, multiple sources acknowledged that Trump’s ceasefire extension is not “indefinite” and the US military is standing ready to resume strikes if called upon to do so.
Trump has continued to voice frustration over Iran’s refusal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which it effectively closed-off to international shipping in response to the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes.
A man swings from a giant rope swing on the beach as ships are anchored near the shoreline on April 22, 2026 in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Bandar Abbas is a port city and the capital of Hormozgan Province, along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
A man swings from a giant rope swing on the beach as ships are anchored near the shoreline on April 22, 2026 in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Bandar Abbas is a port city and the capital of Hormozgan Province, along the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. Stringer/Getty Images
The Trump administration underestimated Iran’s willingness to shut down the strait prior to launching the war – a move that could have likely been “prevented” if the US had positioned military assets nearby at the outset to deter or respond Tehran from doing so, according to two sources familiar with the initial planning for the war.
Failing to prevent Iran from effectively closing the strait during the initial days of the war has ultimately led to the current standoff between the two countries as tankers largely remain unwilling to risk transiting the waterway due to fear of attack.
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Secretary of the Navy John Phelan speaks, at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Secretary of the Navy John Phelan speaks, at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.
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The US Navy currently has 19 ships in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, and seven ships in the Indian Ocean, a US official said Thursday.
The US military began enforcing a blockade of Iranian ports using much of that force on April 13 and has redirected at least 33 ships as of Thursday.
USS Abraham Lincoln conducts US blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16.
USS Abraham Lincoln conducts US blockade operations in the Arabian Sea, April 16. US Navy/NAVCENT Public Affairs/US Central Command Public Affairs
US forces have also boarded at least three ships, including two in the Indian Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles from the Persian Gulf. The most recent boarding occurred overnight on Wednesday, when US forces boarded a “sanctioned stateless vessel” carrying oil from Iran in the Indian Ocean, the Defense Department announced.
CNN’s Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this story.
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