As US troops enter the region, Iran asserts that its forces are "waiting."

The USS Tripoli is an amphibious assault ship carrying around 3,500 marines and sailors (Image: Reuters)

As an additional 3,500 US troops arrive in the Middle East, the speaker of Iran's parliament has issued a warning that his country's forces are "waiting for American soldiers." Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would "rain fire" on any US troops attempting to enter Iranian territory.

 US Central Command said on X that the newly-arrived sailors and marines were part of a unit led by the warship USS Tripoli, which also includes assault and transport assets.

 The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon was getting ready for weeks of ground operations in Iran at the time of its arrival. There has been no confirmation from US officials that ground troops will be deployed. In his message, reported by Iranian state media, Ghalibaf also said "the enemy signals negotiation in public, while in secret it plots a ground attack".

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Trump's statements regarding when the war might end have been contradictory. He has stated in recent days that it is almost over and that he is considering whether to take additional measures against Iran, including energy-related measures. His administration was preparing to ask Congress for $200 billion (£150 billion) in emergency funding for the ongoing Iranian military operation earlier this week, indicating that he wanted it to continue.

"If I were, I certainly wouldn't tell you," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office last week that he was not sending ground troops to Iran. In the meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Friday that while the United States could accomplish its war goals without using ground troops, Trump needed to "be prepared for multiple contingencies." According to the Washington Post, citing US officials, any potential ground operation approved by the White House could involve raids by a mixture of ordinary troops and Special Operations forces but would stop short of a full-scale invasion of Iran.

 According to the Axios news agency, the Pentagon is also working on military options for dealing a "final blow" to Iran. These options could include bombing campaigns and ground forces. As part of its campaign against Iran, the United States had already sent a number of military assets to the Middle East. These include aircraft carriers, missile interceptors, bombers, and fighter jets. After a fire on board injured sailors and caused significant damage, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the most advanced aircraft carrier in the US Navy, arrived in Croatia for repairs on Saturday. Additionally, it is unclear whether the United States and Iran have been holding peace talks. Iran has denied that such discussions have taken place.  However, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, stated that while messages were exchanged with the United States through intermediaries, they constituted "neither dialogue nor negotiation, nor anything of the sort."

Trump has claimed that talks are taking place and are progressing "very well" and that Iran is "afraid" to admit to participating in them "because they figure they'll be killed by their own people." It is widely believed that the president gave the Iranians a 15-point plan to end the conflict via Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator. Although the plan's official text has not yet been released, it is said to be a compilation of demands Israel and the United States have made of Iran for a number of years, including that Iran give up its nuclear program. Tehran has responded with its own demands, such as the removal of American bases from the Middle East, reparations for war damage, and recognition of its control over the Strait of Hormuz. Ghalibaf stated on Sunday that the United States "is setting out its wishes and pursuing what it failed to achieve in the war" with a "15-point list." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and a number of other high-ranking Iranian officials have been killed as a result of US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which began on February 28. More than 1,551 Iranian civilians have also died so far as a result of the bombings, according to HRANA, a US-based group that monitors human rights violations in Iran.

 Retaliatory Iranian strikes have targeted Israel and US military bases across the Middle East - disrupting major hubs for international air travel and causing the price of oil to soar.

Source: BBC