The United States appears to be inching closer to launching ground operations in Iran, with no indication that Israel, which pushed for the war on the Islamic Republic, would be participating.
The first serious sign of a near ground operation in Iran came on March 13, when the deployment of the 31th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) with 2,200 marines on three vessels, including the aircraft-carrying USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship, was revealed.
Just a week later, on March 20, it was announced that the 11th MEU, with approximately 2,500 marines, would be heading to the Middle East, aboard the aircraft-carrying USS Boxer amphibious assault ship, and two other vessels.
On the same day it was also reported for the first time that elements from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to the Middle East. Later reports suggested that as many as 3,000 paratroopers from this elite units could be sent.
Soon after, specifically on March 25 and 26, rumors began to emerge that an unspecified number of special operations forces — including the 75th Rangers, Delta Force, Navy SEALs, and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) — are also being deployed in the Middle East.
The Kharg Island, Iran’s most critical maritime oil export hub, will be, according to many reports, the main target of any ground operation, with the aim of pressuring the Islamic Republic into reopening the strategic Hormuz Strait.
Other reports suggested, however, that a ground operation will take place in the province of Isfahan, at the heart of Iran, to secure highly enriched uranium. This is, of course, much less likely.
Amid this military build up, U.S. President Donald Trump upped the tempo on March 22 by threatening to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. The very next day, Trump backed down, claiming that he started talks with Iran. On March 26, he pushed the ultimatum further to April 6.
The Islamic Republic was not fooled, with reports from March 26 revealing that it has been laying traps and moving additional troops along with air defenses to Kharg Island.
Any ground operation in Iran will likely require the support of Gulf countries, and some reports have already revealed that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates could join the war.
Interestingly, Israel, which pushed for the ongoing war on Iran in the first place, does not appear to be preparing to join in ground operations there. So far, everything suggests that it will be Americans, and possibly Arabs, fighting in the Islamic Republic in what is expected to be the riskiest U.S. ground operation in decades.
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bay of pigs 2.0. coc8sucker chumpo sold his soul to the jooz years ago.
we can’t expect anything intelligent from a mobster bagman. dump needs a new toupee to fool the masses. it should buy him a few weeks in stupidland.
usa will show russia how it’s done…heheheh
it appears the amateurs in the white house and the pentagon aren’t thinking about the logistics of sustaining such an operation. lranians are right, if the us can’t protect their forces in arab countries across the persian gulf, then they will get cannon foddered on iranian soil. there will be lots and lots of gruesome videos going viral worse than the raid of mogadishu.