The Pentagon has formulated a "three-day blitz" plan to annihilate Iran's military that targets 1,200 sites, including Tehran's nuclear facilities, in order to render its military incapable of conducting offensive, defensive or retaliatory missions.

According to the London Sunday Times, citing Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, the Pentagon has rejected a strategy of "pinprick strikes" against Iran's nuclear facilities.

"They're about taking out the entire Iranian military," Debat said.

Despite a report last week by the International Atomic Energy Agency of "significant" cooperation by Iran over its nuclear program, Washington sees only continued stalling by the Islamic regime, reports the Times.

President Bush increased his rhetoric against Iran's nuclear program last week, saying Tehran had put the Mideast "under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust" and indicated action would be taken against the program "before it is too late."

According to a Times source close to the Bush administration, the president's recent statements were meant as "a message to a number of audiences" – Iran and the U.N. Security Council.

"A number of nuclear sites have not even been visited by the IAEA," said Alireza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran. "They're giving a clean bill of health to a regime that is known to have practiced deception."

Revelation of a plan for a three-day blitz to destroy Iran's fighting ability indicates the administration leans toward the use of rapid, overwhelming force if the military option is used.

"Whether you go for pinprick strikes or all-out military action, the reaction from the Iranians will be the same," Debat said. Massive use of force was, he said, a "very legitimate strategic calculus."