Pentagon preps for ground operations in Iran

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran — potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz — though President Donald Trump has not yet approved any deployment, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Any ground operation would stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead involving raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Post said, citing unnamed officials.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Friday the US “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops,” but the Post said planning is advanced, with one official saying: “This is not last-minute planning.”

Meanwhile, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East, US Central Command said Saturday, bolstering speculation about the possible deployment of US ground troops in Iran.

The ship, which is usually based in Japan, arrived in the region on Friday, Centcom said in a post on X, noting that the vessel is the flagship for a contingent of “about 3,500” Marines and sailors.

The group also includes “transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets,” it said.

The post features four images, including one showing several Seahawk helicopters on the ship’s deck, as well as some Osprey aircraft, typically used for personnel transport.

Another picture shows an F-35 fighter jet.

Negotiating and plotting

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday that the US was plotting a ground attack despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.

“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack,” Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRG) said Sunday they launched missile and drone strikes on aluminium plants in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the weekend, targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.

Since the Middle East war erupted at the end of February, Bahrain and other Gulf countries have regularly been targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign, now in its second month.

In a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Guards said they hit an aluminium facility in the UAE and Aluminium Bahrain’s main plant, calling both sites “industries affiliated with and connected to the US military and aerospace sectors in the region.”

The IRG said the strikes were retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on Iranian industrial infrastructure launched from bases in Gulf states.

Aluminium Bahrain, one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, said two employees were wounded in an Iranian strike targeting its facility on Saturday.

The company, also known as Alba, said the workers suffered minor injuries.

Alba added that it was assessing the impact on operations and would provide updates when available. It gave no details on damage to the site.

Emirates Global Aluminium said Saturday that an Iranian attack inflicted significant damage on one of its sites in Abu Dhabi and wounded six employees.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi vowed a “heavy price for Israeli crimes” after strikes on major steel and nuclear-related facilities inside Iran.

Universities target

The IRG on Sunday threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.

Several US universities have campuses scattered throughout the Gulf region, such as Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the UAE.

In the Iranian capital Tehran, two blasts shook the city early Sunday, according to an Agence France-Presse journalist, although it was not clear what was targeted.

The Qatari news channel Al Araby said an Israeli missile hit the building housing its office in Tehran.

Iranian state media reported that US-Israeli strikes also hit a quay in the port city of Bandar Khamir, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz which Iran says it has closed to shipping from hostile powers.

Israel’s military said Saturday it struck the headquarters of Iran’s Marine Industries Organisation in Tehran, saying the facility developed “a wide range of naval weaponry.”

In Syria, authorities said Sunday they had repelled a drone attack from Iraq targeting a US military base, which comes after a series of strikes that have been claimed by pro-Tehran Iraqi groups.

Pakistan, acting as a go-between for Washington and Tehran, will host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Monday for talks on the crisis.