The Iran War may kick into high gear after the midterms, as a third aircraft carrier is headed to the region and President Trump has warned all hell could break loose.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was making its way to the Middle East – joining two other carrier task forces in the region, the USS George Washington and the USS George W. Bush.

President Trump told Kansas City radio station KCMO Friday that the war is “going to get wrapped up soon” – without specifying how.

Iran war critic Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who said he had been briefed on fairly detailed planning on what the war plan would be if the US restarted operations, ripped the idea during an Oct. 29 appearance at the Middle East Institute: “Their plan is insane. It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.”

He didn’t provide specifics, but mentioned civilian infrastructure that may get targeted. “The plan that they have developed will lead in my view to a prolongment and an escalation of this war that in my view will be devastating for our security interests,” he said.

Another lawmaker, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who has spent time with President Trump recently, predicted that the war would be over soon. “I’m going to guess about a day or three after this election, I would not want to be anywhere close to Iran,” he said at a campaign stop Thursday.

If war does erupt after the midterms, four military hard-liners ruling Iran could soon find targets on their backs — and explosives in their pockets.

Former Mossad Deputy Head of Global Operations Oded Ailam told The Post that a dramatic, “Operation Grim Beeper”-style attack to wipe out the junta’s leadership remains fully on the table.

“This is the bread and butter of Israeli strategy, is surprise twists and turns, unexpected moves and I’m absolutely certain that Israel has cards in the sleeve that will be used,” Ailam told The Post.

On Sept. 17-18, 2024, Israel detonated thousands of explosive-rigged pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon and Syria in a covert operation that killed dozens, injured thousands and severely weakened the terror group.

Iran’s political leadership, comprised of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, along with newly-installed Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei are mere figureheads, and the country is actually ruled by a military quadrumvirate, according to Ailam.

“The president and foreign minister can’t make decisions. [The military junta] hides behind Mojtaba, but he’s not in charge; he’s a complete puppet,” Ailam said.

The four leaders are Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi, Basij forces commander Hossein Taeb, Iranian Army Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi, and Secretary of Supreme National Security Mohsen Rezaei.

Hardliner hit list

US and Israeli forces could target these four Iranian leaders.

• Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ahmad Vahidi, whose troops are responsible for the horrendous massacre of as many as 75,000 protesters during anti-regime demonstrations in January. Vahidi is sanctioned by the US and EU for his role in global terrorism and for his pursuit of a nuclear weapon. 
• Basij Forces Commander Hossein Taeb, whose paramilitary group was also responsible for slaughtering protesters in January, was appointed to by Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei with a mandate to expand the Basij’s intelligence-gathering abilities and increase its number of troops to further crackdown on dissent. 
• Iranian Armed Forces Chief Ali Abdollahi, sanctioned by the US Treasury and known for his belligerence, he has called America “the big Satan” and threatened that any Gulf Arab country allying with the US would be “engulfed in the flames of war.”
• Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Mohsen Rezaei, a founding military leader of the Islamic Republic, has an Interpol Red Notice for his role in the 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish Community Center bombing that killed 85 people. 

While the four leaders are expecting to be targeted should strikes resume and are likely taking intense precautions to protect themselves from US-Israeli airstrikes, the Jewish State has been plotting surprise attacks against Iran for years, Ailam said.

“Israel will use its imagination, its intelligence and the ability of the Israelis to surprise and turn the table in ways you can not anticipate,” he said.

Vahidi, Rezaei and Taeb are all responsible for the brutal massacre that saw as many as 75,000 Iranian protesters slaughtered during uprisings in January.

The conventional Iranian Army was not involved in attacks against Iranians, sources said.

The four have long thwarted the political leadership’s attempts to strike a deal with the US, believing that closing the Strait of Hormuz gave Iran the upper hand and that Trump would soon buckle under pressure, Ailam said.

“In February, Iranians breached their own agreement. Araghchi was caught by surprise — he didn’t understand the logic in breaching the agreement they reached,” Ailam said.

The IRGC reportedly rankled the Iranian foreign minister in February when they announced that they were re-closing the Strait of Hormuz after Araghchi announced it was reopening as part of a deal with the US.

Even among the military junta, cracks are emerging as economic sanctions and a military blockade imposed by the US continue to wreak economic havoc on the regime.

“They’re not on the same page themselves, we see a lot of friction within the regime, different approaches, agreeing then reneging,” Ailam said.

Vice President Vance recently sent a letter to Rezaei in an attempt to restart negotiations between the US and Iran, but the regime has yet to respond.

Retired US General Jack Keane said that US and Israeli strikes should target leadership, along with destroying the nuclear enterprise, domestic energy infrastructure and ballistic missile and drone facilities.

“The intelligence we have now as a result of six months of collection during the on-again, off-again ceasefire is significant,” Keane said.

If Israel is able to deliver on a strategic surprise that wipes out Iran’s remaining leadership, the psychological effect it could have on the regime could be even more devastating than a ground invasion, Ailam said.

“The effect is enormous, especially on the psychology of the enemy. Imagine after the attack there’s a conversation somewhere in a bunker with the top echelons of Iran and everybody’s looking to the left and to the right and thinking the guy next to him is a spy,” Ailam said.

Any US-Israeli strike will be met with a fierce retaliation from the Iranian regime, which would be fighting for its very survival.

“[The regime’s] interest is survival; they’ll fight harder,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington, D.C.-based foreign policy think tank.

He said that Iran would seek to generate as much pain as quickly as possible by striking energy and civilian infrastructure in the surrounding Gulf Arab countries — and possibly Israel.

An attack on Israel would open the door to a massive response from the Jewish State, former IDF Major General Yaakov Amidror said.

“If the Iranian retaliation will be to destroy or try to destroy energy facilities in the Gulf countries, that would be a good excuse for Israel to destroy the whole energy infrastructure in Iran,” Amidror said.

“This is something that cannot be rebuilt in a few years, this will send Iran back 50 years,” he added.

Amidror said that a decapitation strike against Iran’s military leadership was possible if the war resumes, but emphasized that Israel’s top priority would be to neutralize the regime’s nuclear and missile capabilities.