White House Asked Pentagon for Military Options Against Iran

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton requested that the Pentagon assemble military options for striking Iran, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The request came after three mortar shells landed in an open lot near the US Embassy in Baghdad's diplomatic quarter. The mortars were launched by an Iran-affiliated militant group. The event happened in September 2018.

No one was harmed in that attack, but Trump's national security team deemed the event serious enough to consider possible forceful responses.