Pentagon drafts plans for ground operations in Iran

The Pentagon is planning for weeks of potential ground operations in Iran, which U.S. President Donald Trump has not yet approved, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing U.S. officials.

The reported plans could include raids by Special Operations forces and conventional infantry units.

“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the Commander in Chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement in response to questions for the report.

The Trump administration has already deployed U.S. Marines to the Middle East as the war in Iran enters its fifth week and is preparing to send thousands more troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, according to Reuters.

Some 3,500 sailors and Marines have arrived in the Middle East, U.S. Central Command said on Saturday. The force includes the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, which carries fighter jets, transport aircraft and amphibious vehicles.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned on Sunday that the U.S. is publicly talking about negotiations while secretly preparing a ground operation in Iran, vowing that the regime’s armed forces are ready to confront American troops and punish Washington’s regional partners.