Pentagon preparing for ground operations in Iran: media report
- By Agencies, Reuters and Web Desk -
- Mar 29, 2026
The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing U.S. officials. as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrived in the Middle East.
The plans could involve raids by Special Operations and conventional infantry troops, the Post reported. Whether President Donald Trump would approve any of those plans remains uncertain, according to the Post.
The Trump administration has deployed U.S. Marines to the Middle East as the war in Iran stretches into its fifth week, and also has been planning to send thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne to the region.
USS Tripoli, which carries 2,500 marines, has now reached its operation zone, the US Central Command said. Amid all the developments, Pentagon is gearing up for a potential ground operation in Iran. However, there is a big question on whether President Donald Trump will give the green light on deploying ground troops, The Washington Post reported, citing US officials.
The US Central Command stated that more than 11,000 targets in the Middle Eastern country have been hit since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury on February 28.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Washington is focusing on achieving its objectives without deploying ground soldiers in Iran. He added that President Donald Trump needs to be ready for any evolving scenario in the Middle Eastern country.
President Donald Trump has been weighing whether to use ground forces to seize Iran’s strategic oil hub of Kharg Island, an operation analysts say could be achieved quickly, but leave U.S. troops in great peril and prolong rather than shorten the war.
Kharg Island sits 16 miles (26 km) from Iran’s coast in the northern end of the Gulf, about 300 miles (483 km) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz. It lies in waters deep enough to enable the docking of tankers that are too large to approach the Iranian mainland’s shallow coastal waters. The island handles 90% of Iran’s oil exports.
U.S. officials have told Reuters the administration is weighing whether to send ground forces to the island. Two contingents of Marines could arrive in the region around the end of the month, and sources say the Pentagon is planning to send thousands of airborne troops as well to give Trump more options if he were to order a ground assault.