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The US does not have enough B52s and Mk 80s to carpet bomb a place the size of Iran.

We barely managed it during Vietnam using depleting surplus and losing many irreplaceable airframes.

"Carpet bombing Iran to rubble" literally is not an option

You wouldn’t level the entire country, Tehran is a massive target with a handful of other major centres. Comparisons to Vietnam forget the fact that Iran is very arid and highly dependent on infrastructure for water and energy. No power, water or fuel would cripple them and also collapse their agricultural capacity.

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