The United States is quietly drawing up plans for possible ground operations inside Iran, a move that could involve thousands of troops but stop short of a full invasion, a report said late Saturday.
The idea, according to The Washington Post report cited by The Times of Israel, is still on the table. Officials quoted in the report said US President Donald Trump has not approved any such action so far.
The White House indicated that planning does not equal decision-making. It said the Pentagon routinely prepares a range of options for the president, stressing that this does not mean any course has been cleared.
Possible operations, risks and widening war footprint
The report suggests that the US military is examining missions that could send a mix of special forces and regular infantry into Iran’s coastal belt near the Strait of Hormuz. These operations may include capturing Iranian-held islands and holding them for some time.
Military experts have cautioned that holding territory would significantly raise risks for US troops. The conflict has already seen 13 American servicemembers killed and over 300 injured.
There is no fixed timeline yet. One official suggested such missions could be completed in weeks, while another estimated they might stretch over a couple of months.
Tehran reacted sharply. Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of speaking about talks in public while preparing for ground action in private. He warned that Iranian forces were ready and waiting.
The rhetoric escalated further when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps threatened US-linked universities in the Middle East. The warning followed claims that recent US-Israeli strikes had damaged two Iranian universities. Staff and students were advised to stay away from campuses in the region.
“If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation… it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” as per the statement published by Iranian media.
The war, which began on February 28, has already caused significant casualties. Iranian missile strikes have killed 16 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals, along with four Palestinians in the West Bank.