What is The ‘Mother of all Bombs’ The U.S. is Considering Using Against Iran if the War Resumes

The U.S. is considering using the so-called "Mother of all Bombs" against Iran if full-fledged hostilities resume, according to a new report.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb is the U.S.'s largest non-nuclear bomb. It was dropped for the first time in combat in Afghanistan in 2017 and would mark an escalation in the conflict.

However, the CNN added, officials have privately questioned whether dropping the bomb will help the U.S. take meaningful steps towards ending the conflict. President Donald Trump has also ordered the military to develop strike packages that include "a lot of energy infrastructure."

The MOAB could also be deployed to target Iran's underground facilities, particularly nuclear ones. However, there are doubts about whether the bomb would be powerful enough to cause damage to complexes that are buried deep underground, including Pickaxe mountain, which is also believed to be fortified by layers of granite.

The bomb in question weighs almost 10,000 kg and is 30 feet long. It is dropped from the cargo doors of an MC-130 transport plane and detonates shortly after hitting the ground. Its blast wave stretches for a mile in every direction.

Iran, in turn, is also escalating the rhetoric. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Ali Ozmaei said on Wednesday that Tehran is "impatient to sink American warships."

"We are waiting for U.S. warships to approach the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz so we can sink them. We are counting down every moment until this happens," he added in a televised interview with local television.

Iran appears to be increasing its activity in the waterway. A new report detailed that Tehran is resorting to new tactics to disrupt traffic.

The tactics in question were not revealed by senior Iranian officials who talked to Reuters, but they seek to prevent the U.S. from bringing down oil prices ahead of the midterms.

They did say that the pace and type of attacks have changed and are targeting more vessels seeking to transit through the waterway.

A U.S. official told the outlet that Tehran has begun using unarmed spotters in small boats to find potential targets.

In fact, two ships sunk in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. The ships in question are a container ship and a dry bulk carrier. They were hit by projectiles in separate incidents.