The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of limited ground operations in Iran, potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials quoted by The Washington Post newspaper.
The plans, which fall short of a full invasion, could involve raids by special operations and conventional infantry troops, the Post reported, exposing US personnel to Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives.
Whether President Donald Trump would approve any of those plans remains uncertain, according to the report.
“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,” White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, responding to questions over the Post report.
The Trump administration has deployed US Marines to the Middle East as the war in Iran stretches into its fifth week, and has also been planning to send thousands of soldiers from the army’s 82nd Airborne to the region.
On Saturday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said about 3,500 additional soldiers arrived in the Middle East on board the USS Tripoli.
The sailors and marines are with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and arrived in the region on Friday, along with “transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets”, according to CENTCOM.
Officials speaking to The Washington Post said discussions within the administration over the past month have touched upon the possible seizure of Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub in the Gulf, and raids into other coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz to find and destroy weapons that can target commercial and military shipping.
Meanwhile, several areas in the Iranian capital Tehran and the neighbouring Alborz province came under US and Israeli attacks last night, which led to blackouts in a number of neighbourhoods.
In Tehran, the strikes targeted five districts of the city and hit some residential units, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The power outage in parts of Tehran and Alborz was due to the bombs’ shrapnel that damaged electricity facilities and installations, including a high-voltage transmission tower in Alborz and a substation in Tehran.
Iran’s deputy energy minister, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, said several power transmission substations were hit but electricity in Tehran and Karaj is expected to be restored within hours, adding there is no cause for concern, Tasnim reported.
Fars later reported that electricity supply in all affected areas had been resumed and was stable.
As the conflict entered its second month, it showed no signs of slowing.
Israel’s military said it had launched more than 140 air strikes on central and western Iran, including Tehran, over the 24 hours to yesterday evening, hitting ballistic missile launch sites and storage facilities, among other targets.
The director of the World Health Organisation said Israel’s expanding military operations in southern Lebanon had resulted in the death of “yet another” health worker after 51 had already been killed.
Israel says Iran-backed Hizbollah militants use medical facilities for cover, which the group denies.
A chemical plant in southern Israel near the city of Beer Sheva was hit by a missile or missile debris as Israel fended off multiple salvos from Iran, prompting official warnings to the public to stay away due to “hazardous materials”.
Last night, the Israeli military said in a statement that it was striking targets across Tehran.
An Israeli official said Israel would continue carrying out strikes against Iran on what were described as military targets, adding there was no intention to scale back the campaign ahead of any possible talks between Washington and Tehran.
A building housing Qatar’s Al Araby TV in Tehran was hit yesterday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
“The missile hit. The ceiling and everything fell on our heads. ... There was no military target here,” said Al Araby camera operator Mohammadreza Shademan.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said yesterday that Iran’s heavy water production plant at Khondab, which the country reported had been attacked on Friday, had suffered severe damage and is no longer operational.
The installation contains no declared nuclear material, the UN nuclear watchdog added in a social media post on X.
The increasingly unpopular war has weighed on Trump’s Republican Party.
Demonstrators took to city streets across the US on Saturday in protests against the conflict.
US political figures offered sharply different assessments on the duration of the conflict and its aims.
“It is going to be a matter of weeks when all of the objectives will be carried out,” Republican Senate candidate Andy Barr said on the Fox News Sunday programme.
“This is not going to be an occupation of Tehran.”
But Democratic legislators said the strategy was failing, citing US casualties and Iran’s ongoing attacks on nearby regions.
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