CNN: US Could Drop 'Mother of All Bombs' on Iran

CNN, citing US officials, reported that the Pentagon is developing plans to use the MOAB GBU-43/B against Iran.

Citing multiple sources in the administration of US President Donald Trump, CNN reported that the Pentagon is developing plans to use the largest conventional bomb in the US arsenal in a war with Iran.

If approved, the attack would be only the second combat use of the GBU-43/B massive aerial ordnance bomb, or MOAB, after it was deployed in Afghanistan in 2017 during Trump's first term.

According to CNN, such an operation would serve primarily as "psychological warfare" against Iranian forces while potentially increasing domestic support for the Trump administration. Sources suggested the weapon, dubbed the "mother of all bombs," could be launched before the US midterm elections in early November.

The MOAB is a massive 9,800 kg explosive ordnance designed to devastate a large area and intimidate enemy forces witnessing the explosion. While not capable of destroying relatively fortified targets, it is not a penetrating "shelter breaker" designed to destroy deeply buried installations, such as those used by Iran for critical military infrastructure.

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The "bunker-buster" GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator weighs approximately 14,000 kg (30,000 lb). However, the MOAB carries at least four times more explosives.

"The MOAB is a massive intelligence ops weapon that's great for clearing large areas but not much else," CNN's sources said.

"Unfortunately, POTUS has put himself in a position where he almost has to do something," the official added. With the president's options limited, "you have to look at the psychological effects that the MOAB is well equipped for."

In 2017, the United States launched a MOAB at a tunnel complex in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, targeting militants identified by U.S. officials as members of ISIS-K, the local affiliate of the now-defunct terrorist group ISIS. Initial reports put the death toll at 36.

A series of recent U.S. media reports suggest that military officials are preparing options for renewed large-scale strikes on Iran, likely to be timed shortly before or after the midterm elections.

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Pessimists argue that the initial US-Israeli offensive in February and March failed to crush Iran's military, while US forces are now in a much weaker position, depleted of vital ammunition and losing access to military bases across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Tehran retains the ability to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and exert economic pressure on Washington. Iran can also carry out massive attacks against strategic economic targets in the US allied countries in the Persian Gulf in case of imminent defeat.