Nuclear Iran – Plan B, C, and D

We regularly read about new sanctions intended to deter Iran’s nuclear program.  The United States has been battling in the United Nations to get the new sanctions in place for quite a while now.  We do not, however, often read about the Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D that the White House has been quietly planning.

One plan is for an all out war with Iran to end the program.  That is far from Plan A, but the United States has been planning for such an altercation.  If I know about it, Iran surely knows about it.  Maybe that will come into play for some level of deterrence.

Another plan is for a covert intelligence operation, known as the Brain Drain, which would help take Iranian nuclear scientists out of the country.  The United States has also relied on the threat the Israel may intervene:

By all accounts, Mr. Obama has ramped up a Bush-era covert program to undermine Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, and he has made quiet diplomatic use of Israel’s lurking threat to take military action if diplomacy and pressure fail.

Read more about the options the United States is considering at the New York Times.