NEW YORK/SANAA/TEHRAN – The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war should US President Donald Trump choose to escalate, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
Any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion and could instead involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the newspaper quoted officials as saying on the condition of anonymity.
Such a mission could expose US personnel to an array of threats, including Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives, the report noted, adding the Trump administration in recent days has vacillated between declaring that the war is winding down and threatening to amplify it.
Discussions within the US administration over the past month have touched upon the possible seizure of Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub in the Persian Gulf, and raids into other coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz to locate and destroy weapons capable of targeting commercial and military shipping, said officials.
They added that in the past month, 13 US troops have been killed in action, including six in a plane crash in Iraq, six in a drone attack on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, and one in an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. More than 300 service members have been wounded by Iranian drones and missiles in retaliatory attacks targeting US facilities in at least seven countries across the Middle East, with at least 10 sustaining serious injuries.
According to The Post, recent polls indicate strong public resistance in the United States to sending combat troops in Iran. A survey conducted by the Associated Press and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that 62 percent of respondents were strongly opposed to deploying ground forces, while only 12 percent were in favor.
The US Central Command announced on Saturday that a task force of 3,500 marines and sailors arrived in the Middle East on Friday.
“US Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 27,” CENTCOM said in a brief post on social media platform X.
The America-class amphibious assault ship serves as the flagship for the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group / 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit composed of about 3,500 sailors and marines in addition to transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets, CENTCOM said in the post.
The arrival is part of a broader US military buildup tied to the ongoing war with Iran, with amphibious forces capable of conducting both sea-based strikes and ground operations, online news portal ynetnews.com reported on Saturday, adding such units are typically used for rapid deployments, including securing strategic locations, evacuations or potential assaults on coastal targets.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Pentagon was considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Trump more military options beyond diplomacy.
The force, likely to include infantry and armored vehicles, would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division already ordered to the region, said the report, citing Department of Defense officials.
Houthis launch missile, drone strikes on Israel
Also on Saturday, Yemen’s Houthi group said that it had carried out fresh attacks on vital sites in southern Israel using cruise missiles and drones, marking its second claimed attack of the day amid escalating regional tensions.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on social media platform X that the operation was coordinated with Iran and Hezbollah and had “successfully achieved its objectives.”
Sarea added that the attacks support what he called the “fronts of resistance” in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran.
“We confirm that our operations will continue in the coming days until the aggression stops,” the spokesperson said.
The group stressed that its military operations target solely against “the Israeli and American enemy,” and expressed its readiness to engage with Arab and Islamic countries to prevent any misunderstandings.
Earlier Saturday, the group claimed a ballistic missile barrage on southern Israel, its first such attack since Israel and the United States started massive attacks on Iran on Feb 28.
On Thursday, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi reaffirmed the group’s readiness for military action should regional developments warrant it, while reiterating strong ties with Iran.
Iran vows to retaliate
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday vowed that his country will retaliate “strongly” against any attack on its infrastructure and economic centers.
He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X, one day after Israel targeted Iran’s industrial plants and nuclear facilities.
“We have said many times that Iran doesn’t carry out preemptive attacks, but we will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centers are targeted,” Pezeshkian said.
Addressing the countries in the West Asia region, he added, “If you want development and security, don’t let our enemies carry out the war from your lands.”
Israel on Friday evening attacked several Iranian industrial and atomic facilities, including two steel plants, one located in Isfahan province and the other in Khuzestan, a heavy water research reactor facility in Markazi province, and a yellowcake production plant in Yazd province.
The strikes came as Trump set a 10-day deadline, ending on April 6, for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to target Iran’s power plants if it does not comply.
IRGC: US F-16 fighter jet, drone hit
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Saturday its air defense has struck a US F-16 Fighting Falcon and an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the country’s southern airspace.
Making the announcement in a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC said the US fighter jet and drone were hit during joint retaliatory missile and drone operations by its Navy and Aerospace Division against heavy industries belonging to the United States and Israel.
It added that CENTCOM has also confessed that its F-16 Fighting Falcon was targeted.
In a post on social media platform X, CENTCOM said, “A US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon lands at a base in the Middle East after a combat flight in support of Operation Epic Fury.”
Meanwhile, a depot storing Ukrainian anti-drone defense systems in Dubai was destroyed in a missile strike by the IRGC, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.
Tasnim quoted Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman of Iran’s main military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, as saying that the depot was hit during joint missile operations by the IRGC’s Navy and Aerospace Division, alongside attacks on US personnel in Dubai, which he said inflicted heavy casualties. Zolfaghari said 21 Ukrainians were in the warehouse at the time and that the systems were intended to assist US forces.
Ukraine denied the strike, calling it false. Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy said, “This is a lie; we officially refute this information.”
Earlier Saturday, Iran struck a US Army support vessel near Oman’s Salalah port, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Zolfaghari said Iran respects Omani sovereignty.
Israeli strikes
Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Effie Defrin on Saturday said in a live broadcast update that within a few days, the Israeli military will complete the strikes on all vital components of Iran’s military industry.
“This means that we will destroy most of Iran’s military production capabilities, and it will take the Iranian regime a long time to restore them,” Defrin added.
“We continue to act according to a plan, with a systematic and extensive attack that is prepared in advance and constantly adapted to the situation,” he noted. “We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the situation.”
Regarding the missile launched from Yemen at Israel on Saturday morning, the first since the start of the US-Israel attack on Iran, Defrin said that Israel was prepared for a multi-front war, including the Houthis, and warned that “anyone who tries to harm Israeli citizens will pay a price for it.”
Regarding the Lebanese front, Defrin noted that the Israeli army has so far killed more than 850 Hezbollah militants and that it is deepening control in southern Lebanon to prevent direct fire on northern Israeli settlements.
The developments follow Iran’s retaliation to joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb 28, which killed Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior commanders, and civilians. Iran has since launched missile and drone attacks targeting US and Israeli assets across the Middle East.