Newsletters
U.S. President Donald Trump has privately expressed serious interest in deploying U.S. troops on the ground inside Iran, according to two U.S. officials, a former U.S. official and another person familiar with the discussions, NBC News reported.
According to the report, Trump’s private comments have not focused on a large-scale ground invasion but on the possibility of deploying a small contingent of U.S. troops for specific strategic purposes.
NBC News reported that Trump discussed the idea with aides and Republican officials outside the White House while outlining his vision for a post-war Iran.
Sources said Trump described a scenario in which Iran’s uranium would be secured and the U.S. would cooperate with a new Iranian government on oil production.
He reportedly compared the idea to the emerging dynamic between the U.S. and Venezuela after U.S. special forces captured Nicolas Maduro in January and Washington backed a new president, Delcy Rodriguez, under conditions including cooperation on oil production.
The sources said Trump has not made any decisions or issued orders related to deploying ground troops.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report relied on anonymous sources not involved in the president’s national security discussions.
“This story is based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the President’s national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions,” Leavitt said in a statement.
“President Trump always, wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table.”
Publicly, Trump has not ruled out putting U.S. “boots on the ground” in Iran, although the conflict so far has consisted of an air campaign.
Since the war began Saturday, six U.S. service members have been killed and 18 wounded in Iranian counterattacks, according to the Pentagon.
Foreign policy experts cited by NBC News said limited ground operations could involve special forces missions targeting specific sites.
Joel Rayburn, a former Trump administration official and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., said such operations could involve inserting forces to strike targets not suitable for bombardment.
“That’s the kind of thing where you do an insertion, you attack a target, or conduct a raid, and then you get out,” Rayburn said, adding he had not yet seen conditions that would require that step.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said U.S. forces could also be used to help secure Iran’s uranium stockpile if the government collapses.
“You don’t want it to become a failed state nuclear bazaar,” Taleblu said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran is prepared for the possibility of U.S. ground troops. “We are waiting for them,” Araghchi said in an interview with NBC News.
“We are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”
“We have prepared ourselves to confront any scenario,” he added.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
