Trump said to want an attack on Iran ‘to be definitive’ and not trigger sustained war

US President Donald Trump has told his top national security aides that he wants any military action against Iran to deal a swift and decisive blow to the regime while not triggering an extended conflict that lasts for weeks or months, NBC News reports.

Citing a US official and people familiar with the matter, the broadcaster says that Trump’s advisers have not yet been able to guarantee that the Islamic Republic would swiftly fall if struck by the United States, and also are citing concerns that they don’t have the military assets in place across the Middle East to defend against an Iranian response.

Therefore, if Trump does decide to attack, he could initially green light more limited strikes on Iran while keeping open the possibility of later escalation, according to the report, which describes the situation as quickly evolving and stresses no decision has been made.

The sources quoted in the report emphasize, however, that Trump is prepared to follow through on his repeated pledge that the US is coming to the aid of anti-government protesters.

“If [Trump] does something, he wants it to be definitive,” one of the people tells NBC.

The report also says that Trump is supposed to be presented Wednesday with different military options designed to achieve the goals that he outlined during a briefing with his national security team a day earlier.