The US military is asking its troops for new ideas for pressuring Iran, CNN reported on Monday, citing an email by a US Central Command (CENTCOM) intelligence officer.
“We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran,” the officer wrote in a message sent Wednesday to a broad group of military analysts, according to the US outlet, which quoted a source familiar with the message.
A second source also told the US media outlet that a senior US military officer sent the message last week soliciting new ideas for how to deal with Iran.
Exclusive: The request from a senior officer at the US military command carrying out President Donald Trump's war with Iran came in an email: We need ideas.
— CNN (@CNN) August 3, 2026
"We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," an officer in US Central Command's… pic.twitter.com/cLUJIYWQ5T
The crowdsourcing-style query, which military officials said was unusual over email, is one sign of the limited — and potentially unpalatable —options available to Trump to force Iran into a deal on his terms,” the CNN reported.
“Hoping to find an alternative, the official at CENTCOM kicked off the brainstorming session via email to see if anyone had a better idea. The second source said CENTCOM is looking at everything, acknowledging it needs to reevaluate the strategy,” it added.
In its report, the CNN then quoted Capt. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for CENTCOM, who said in a statement: “US Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways.”
“Admiral Cooper, in particular, reaches out to members of our great team, regardless of rank, to achieve the highest levels of operational performance possible,” the spokesperson added.
The email preceded Trump’s threat to launch new strikes against Iran, only to call them off over the weekend, according to the report.
Source: CNN (edited by Al-manar Website)