US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was not ruling out sending American ground troops into Iran, while warning that a new and more intense phase of attacks was imminent.
The 79-year-old Republican, who has long criticised US military entanglements in the Middle East, ordered a large-scale assault on Iran beginning Saturday. So far, the campaign has relied primarily on aerial bombardments involving missiles and bombs.
However, Trump declined to exclude the possibility of deploying ground forces, a move widely seen as riskier due to potential casualties.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” Trump said, using a golf term for anxiety. “Every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it.”
Speaking in an interview with the New York Post, he added, “I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ (or) ‘if they were necessary.’”
In a separate interview with CNN, Trump signalled a looming escalation.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened,” he said. “The big one is coming soon.”
US and Israel forces have reportedly struck hundreds of targets across Iran, including naval assets and command-and-control facilities. Four US military personnel have been confirmed killed, while three fighter jets were shot down in incidents described as friendly fire.
Iran has retaliated with missile strikes targeting Israel, US bases in the region, and sites in several Arab countries, including Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump described the strikes on regional Arab states as “the biggest surprise.”
Speaking at the White House during an award ceremony, Trump said the United States could sustain military operations beyond the previously projected four- to five-week timeframe.
“We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections,” he said. “From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it.”
The president again justified the campaign by accusing Iran’s clerical leadership of developing nuclear weapons and advanced missile capabilities—claims that Tehran has denied and some analysts have questioned.
“This was our last, best chance to strike, what we’re doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also indicated that ground deployment had not been ruled out.
Asked whether American troops were already inside Iran, Hegseth told reporters, “No, but we’re not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do. We’ll go as far as we need to go.”
On the possible duration of the war, he said, “Four weeks, two weeks, six weeks, it could move up. It could move back.”
Hegseth sought to distinguish the current campaign from past US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, insisting it would not involve prolonged nation-building efforts.
“This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” he said. “No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise. We fight to win and we don’t waste time or lives.”
General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said air superiority had been established over Iran.
Strikes by American forces “resulted in the establishment of local air superiority,” Caine said, adding that it would enhance force protection and allow continued operations.
The escalating conflict has intensified concerns over regional stability and the potential for a prolonged war in the Middle East.
