There are all kinds of war game scenarios done in the Pentagon all the time. Hersh doesn't know anything that isn't common knowledge. So Iran is on the list of nations where war gamming exists: big deal.
Any State Department "mole" isn't going to be any more helpful than a NY Times reporter speculating on what the Oval Office is considering.
Now if Hersh gets his hands on any classified material, both he and the leaker would need to face the consequence of such actionable material.
You mean like the 'black" ops done by the CIA in Europe that the times reported on, or the financial ops that the times reported on.
The nyt and seymore in particular are past experts at releasing classified materials. He gets his jollies by pushing the envelop.
He states clearly that the CIA is in Iran, where i9s he getting that info?