President Donald Trump has announced a larger attack on Iran, with ambitious goals that have raised questions about the prospects for success and the rationale for launching the campaign. The White House hopes that America's formidable air power will cripple Iran, reducing the threat posed by a regime that has been a thorn in the U.S. for nearly 50 years. Despite this, both Trump and his deputies have not ruled out the possibility of deploying ground troops to wage war against Iran. The administration's objectives are to prevent Iran from ever having a nuclear weapon, destroy Iran's nuclear program, degrade its proxy forces, destroy its navy, and trigger the collapse of the Iranian regime. However, it is unclear how this will happen without an armed opposition on the ground, which experts say could cause Iran to cut off its support for proxies in Iraq, Lebanon or Yemen.