Revealing the plans: How ground troops can be deployed in Iran
The Pentagon is planning to deploy ground troops in Iran, reveals the Washington Post.
The preparations have been going on for several weeks and focus on the strategic island of Kharg, among other things.
– The difficult part is not taking it, a source tells the newspaper.
After four weeks of war, the Strait of Hormuz is still blocked, the price of oil continues to rise and Iran and its support groups are constantly sending new drones and missiles against neighboring countries.
Donald Trump has said several times that ground troops are not needed and that the war is “already won”, but in the background, the US defense headquarters, the Pentagon, has drawn up detailed plans to deploy soldiers on Iranian territory.
The Washington Post revealed during the night towards Sunday that the preparations concern a ground operation that will last for several weeks or even months.
The newspaper's sources state that it is not a full-scale invasion but targeted operations with elite forces and infantry. If Donald Trump gives the green light, the war would thus be taken into a new and more dangerous phase, writes the Washington Post.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt does not deny the information:
"It is the Pentagon's job to make preparations that give the commander in chief maximum opportunities. This does not mean that the president has made a decision," she says in a statement to the newspaper.
In the discussions ahead of a ground operation, two targets have been identified in particular:
The strategic island of Kharg, from which Iran exports almost all of its oil.
Coastal strips at the Strait of Hormuz. The aim is to find and knock out Iranian weapons that can be used against passing oil ships.
Michael Eisenstadt, former military director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, sees great risks in an invasion of Kharg. He tells the Washington Post that it would be better if the US laid mines around the island. The purpose would be to pressure Iran to remove its mines from the Strait of Hormuz.
– I wouldn’t want to be in a place as small as Kharg with Iran’s ability to rain down drones and maybe artillery.
A former defense official with insight into the Pentagon’s preparations describes them as far-fetched.
– We’ve looked at this and done simulations. These are not last-minute plans. You have to cover the people on Kharg. That’s the hard part. The hard part isn’t taking it. It’s protecting your guys once they’re there.
Axios and the Wall Street Journal have reported in recent days that the White House is considering sending an additional 10,000 troops to the Middle East, in addition to the 5,000 already in place.
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