U.S. military presenting range of options to Trump

WA S HING TON» The Pentagon will present a broad range of military options to President Donald Trump on Friday as he considers how to respond to what administration officials say was an unprecedented Iranian attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil industry.

In a White House meeting, the president will be presented with a list of potential airstrike targets inside Iran, among other possible responses, and he will be warned that military action against the Islamic Republic could escalate into a war, sources said.

The national security meeting likely will be the first opportunity for a decision on how the U.S. should respond to the attack on a key Middle East ally. Any decision may depend on which kind of evidence the U.S. and Saudi investigators are able to provide proving that the strike using cruise missiles and drones was launched by Iran, as officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have asserted.

Iran has denied involvement and warned the U.S. that an attack will spark an “all-out war” with immediate retaliation from Tehran.

Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence have condemned the attack on Saudi oil facilities as “an act of war.” Pence said Trump will “review the facts, and he’ll make a decision about next steps. But the American people can be confident that the United States of America is going to defend our interest in the region, and we’re going to stand with our allies.”

The U.S. response could involve military, political and economic actions, and the military options could range from no action at all to airstrikes or less visible moves such as cyberattacks. One likely move would be for the U.S. to provide additional military support to help Saudi Arabia defend itself from attacks from the north, because most of its defenses have focused on threats from Houthis in Yemen to the south.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the question of whether the U.S. responds is a “political judgment” and not for the military.