The plan was codenamed Nitro Zeus, and if it had ever been deployed, it would have taken down parts of Iran's civilian infrastructure, including its power grid, phone lines, and air defenses. The plan cost tens of millions of dollars to design and involved the placement of electronic implants in Iranian computer networks, in case it were ever decided to be implemented.

The New York Times and BuzzFeed News independently investigated the documentary's claims. The reports claim Nitro Zeus was created as a contingency plan if the US / Iran nuclear negotiations never came to fruition; the US worried Israel would attack Iran's nuclear arsenal and drag the US into a conflict. The plan was intended to render a conventional conflict unnecessary, or at least minimize it.

Nitro Zeus was reportedly created as a contingency plan

The US also developed a narrower plan that would have taken down Iran's Fordo nuclear enrichment site, the Times reports.