United States President George W Bush may be planning to hit Iran with Britain on board, according to a report in the New Yorker magazine.
The US has also asked the Islamic nation to stop interfering in Iraq, failing which it would face American retribution, the report said.
During a secure videoconference that took place early this summer, Bush told US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker that he was thinking of hitting Iranian targets across the border. Bush also said that the British "were on board," according to the report by Seymour Hersh, one of America's leading investigative reporters.
"The attacks on our bases and our troops by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased. The Iranian regime must halt these actions. And, until it does, I will take actions necessary to protect our troops," Bush reportedly said.
The bombing plan has received the most positive response from the United Kingdom, while there have been "expressions of interest" from Australia and Israel for the strike plan, said the New Yorker.
"The strategy calls for the use of sea-launched cruise missiles, more precisely targeted ground attacks and bombing strikes, including plans to destroy the most important Revolutionary Guard training camps, supply depots and command-and-control facilities," stated the article.
There were also plans to hit Iran's anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile sites, he said.
A Pentagon consultant told Hersh that if the bombing campaign took place, it would be accompanied by a series of "short sharp incursions" by American Special Forces into suspected Iranian training sites.
