Pentagon Works On Plans For Possible Ground Operations In Iran: Washington Post
The US military is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran, The Washington Post reported late on March 28, citing unnamed US officials, with the White House suggesting that any such preparations would be routine contingency planning by military leaders.
The report also said it was not certain US President Donald Trump would approve the Pentagon's plans for the use of ground forces.
Any potential ground operation would not be a full-scale invasion but was more likely to involve a mixture of special forces operations and regular infantry troops, the Post cited officials as saying.
The report comes as Trump has ordered several thousands of Marines, some 2,000 members of the elite 82nd Airborne Division, and other troops to join the 50,000 already in the region.
A number of Navy amphibious assault ships and other warships are also in the region or on the way.
The unnamed US officials told the Post that the planning has been in development for weeks.
Trump has mixed threats of greater attacks with the possibilities of a peace deal in comments about the US-Israeli war with Iran, now entering its second month.
The Post reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to its inquiries: "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."
Officials told the Post that discussions within the administration have touched on the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, a key oil terminal of Iran and a major cog in the country's economic machine.
Other options discussed included raids on coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked by Iran, creating a bottleneck of oil and gas shipments and roiling world financial markets.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a trip to Paris for the Group of Seven meeting (G7) said the United States will be able to achieve its war goals without the need for ground troops.
Trump himself has played down the possibility of ground troops, saying at one point that he was not planning to send troops "anywhere," although he appeared to leave open the possibility should it be required.
Putting ground troops into action would carry major risks -- both politically for the president and physically for those forces involved.
Iranian And Israeli Oil Facilities In Flames As Strikes Continue
Iran and Israel continued to trade attacks that left a petrochemical plant in the Iranian city of Tabriz in flames, according to Iran's state media on March 30. It was followed by a strike on an Israeli refinery in Haifa. An Iraqi Air Force transport plane was also targeted by Iran-backed militias at Baghdad International Airport as the conflict in the region entered its fifth week.
Syrian President Condemns Iran's Attacks On Persian Gulf Countries
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is in Germany, expressed sympathy for the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf in a press conference on March 30, in which he condemned Iran's attacks on these countries.
Al-Shara stressed that Iran's neighboring Arab countries to the south "did not want" to enter the war, but Iran was attacking them.
The Syrian president, who visited Germany for the first time in his capacity and met with the country's chancellor on March 30, said that the current war, which has just entered its fifth week, "poses a great danger" to global energy supplies.
He also emphasized that the parties to the conflict must "reach an agreement based on a specific formula" as soon as possible, otherwise the continuation of the war would be fraught with potential dangers.
Turkey Says Fourth Iranian Missile Intercepted
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on March 30 that a ballistic missile launched from Iran had been intercepted and destroyed.
According to a statement from the ministry, the missile was intercepted by NATO air and missile defenses based in the eastern Mediterranean.
This is the fourth Iranian ballistic missile to be intercepted in or en route to Turkish airspace.
Egyptian President Calls On Trump To Stop War
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called on US President Donald Trump to stop the war in the region.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Egyptian Energy Exhibition, Al-Sisi said: "I say to President Trump: No one but you can stop the war in our region in the Persian Gulf."
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey met in Islamabad at the end of last week to find a way to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, but the outcome of these talks is still unclear.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati also contacted his US counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in recent days and called for a diplomatic solution to end the conflicts in the region.
Kuwaiti Desalination Plant Hit; Iran Blames Israel
Hours after Kuwait announced that a desalination facility in the country had been attacked, a spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) blamed Israel for the attack.
Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy confirmed the attack on one of the country's electricity generation and water distillation facilities on March 30, saying an Indian worker was killed in the attack and that "significant material damage" was caused.
Kuwait said that Iran was behind the strike.
However, the IRGC issued a statement claiming the attack on Kuwait's desalination facilities was carried out by Israel "under the pretext of accusing the Islamic republic."
The statement also called for an end to the presence of US military forces in the region.
Iran Says It Rejects 'Unrealistic' US Peace Plan
Tehran has said it received, reviewed, and rejected a 15-point US peace plan that was delivered through Pakistani emissaries.
On March 30, Iran called the plan "unrealistic, illogical, and excessive" while launching more missiles and drones at targets in Israel.
"What has been discussed so far have been messages about America's willingness and request for negotiations, which we received from some intermediaries, including Pakistan," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said.
Trump has imposed an April 6 deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal ending the war or face US strikes on its power plants.
On March 29, Trump hailed progress in talks with Iran, saying they were being held directly and indirectly with "reasonable" leaders and asserted Tehran was partially opening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supplies pass.
But he has yet to elaborate on what he called direct talks with Iran, whose leaders deny negotiations are taking place.
To read the full report, click here.
Trump Renews Warning To Iran: Reach Deal Soon Or Face Energy Sector Attacks
US President Donald Trump has renewed his warning to Tehran to reach a deal to end the war soon and open the Strait of Hormuz or he will order air strikes with the aim of "completely obliterating" Iran's oil export hub of Kharg Island, oil wells, and power plants.
For the second day in a row, the US leader said a deal is likely at hand, but he also said in a social media post on March 30 that "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached" US forces will react " by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"
To read the full report, click here.
Trump: US Engaged In 'Serious Discussions' With Iran
US President Donald Trump says the United States is engaged in "serious discussions" with "a new, and more reasonable, regime" in Iran aimed at ending ongoing military operations.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that "great progress" has been made but warned that if a deal with Iran is not reached soon, the United States could escalate its actions by "blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island."
Quick roundup of other news stories connected to the war with Iran:
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Tehran has not had "any direct talks" with the United States since the last round of talks, although it was not clear which talks he was referring to. Regarding reports that negotiations between Iran and the United States are being held through intermediaries, Ismail Baghaei said: "What has been discussed so far have been messages about America's willingness and request for negotiations, which we received from some intermediaries, including Pakistan."
Shmuel Abramzon, the chief economist at the Israeli Finance Ministry, said on March 30 that the country's economy is on track to shrink in the first quarter of 2026 due to the war with Iran. Based on current indicators of economic activity and the experience of past wars, Abramzon said that the Israeli economy is expected to experience negative growth of 9.5 percent.
Citing military sources, the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the country has closed its airspace to US aircraft engaged in the war with Iran.
Zelenskyy Offers Russia Halt On Energy Strikes Amid Oil Crisis Sparked By Iran War
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has offered Russia a mutual halt on strikes against energy sites in the two countries in response to a global oil crisis triggered by the war in Iran.
"If Russia is ready to stop hitting Ukrainian energy facilities, we will not respond against their energy sector," Zelenskyy told journalists in a WhatsApp chat on March 30.