The US is reportedly planning for “weeks of ground operations” in Iran in the latest escalation of the ongoing conflict.
Per the Washington Post, citing Pentagon officials, these operations would likely “involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops”.
This plan, the report adds, has been “in development for weeks”, despite President Trump’s public claims that “productive” negotiations with Tehran have left the two sides on the brink of a peace deal.
However, the Post also notes that “any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion”.
One potential target for the operation is understood to be Kharg Island, the site of most of Iran’s oil refinement infrastructure.
But some at the Pentagon have reportedly raised concerns that occupying the island could provoke Tehran and leave US service personnel exposed to attacks from artillery and drones.
Trump has repeatedly threatened escalation against Iran if it refuses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital maritime route out of the Persian Gulf, which in peacetime carries around 20 per cent of global oil supply.
On two occasions last week, he said that the US would strike Iranian power plants if the strait remained closed, but he has since delayed the ultimatum twice, with the new deadline expiring on April 6.
The Financial Times subsequently reported that Iran has reopened the strait to “non-hostile” maritime traffic, such as commercial vessels, though the country’s parliament is said to be working on a bill to impose levies on shipping through the route.
And Trump also claimed that Iran had agreed to give up its nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile development programmes in return for the lifting of sanctions.
The Islamic Republic has denied any knowledge of such talks and is understood to have rejected a 15-point ceasefire plan proposed by the US via Pakistani mediators.
Meanwhile, Israel, Washington’s partner in the joint airstrikes which sparked the war on February 28, is reportedly shifting its focus away from the possibility of genuine regime change in Iran and towards degrading its military capabilities ahead of any prospective ceasefire.
Per Channel 12’s Amit Segal: "Israel has become convinced that Trump may try to end the war soon, and therefore shifted most of its airstrikes from targeting the destabilisation of the Iranian regime to inflicting severe damage on its military.
"The shift indicates that Israel has given up on the dream of toppling the regime through air power."
Likewise, former JC Editor Jake Wallis Simons reports: “Regime change in Iran is now off the table, as the opposition is not organised and is successfully repressed, sources tell me.
"Israeli targeting is therefore shifting from regime repression apparatus to its military capabilities. Looks like this thing will end with a deal after all.
“One Israeli source says: ‘I believe we are in a better place, but it’s not a win.’”
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