Source is CNN, Jerusalem Post also reported it. At this point I wouldn't be shocked if it was true.
CNN link:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/03/politics/us-military-iran-war-troops-punish"We are looking for new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," an officer in US Central Command's intelligence branch wrote in a message sent Wednesday to a broad group of military analysts, according to a source familiar with the message. A second source also said that a senior US military officer sent the message last week soliciting new ideas for how to deal with Iran.
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. 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.
"U.S. Central Command has a long history of thinking and working in innovative ways," Capt. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesperson for CENTCOM, said in a statement. "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 email preceded Trump's threat to launch new strikes against Iran, only to call them off over the weekend after regional officials namely Saudi Arabia's crown prince intervened by calling the president and urging him to de-escalate."
