Trump 'prepares ground invasion' with thousands of troops in Middle East as Iran vows to set US Marines 'on fire'
US Central Command announced on Saturday that the USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East, bringing thousands of sailors and Marines into the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States
An Iranian politician has warned US troops would be "set on fire" if they entered Iran, while thousands of Marines land in the Middle East.
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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a speaker and politician, said the regime was ready to "punish" US allies in the region if Trump launched a ground offensive
He adding that while America speaks publicly of negotiations, it is secretly preparing military interventions.
“[The armed forces] are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” he said.
He added: “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”
It follows the arrival of thousands of US sailors and Marines in the Middle East, as Houthi rebels launch two strikes on Israel and vow to continue the strikes in the coming days.
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US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Saturday that the USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East, bringing thousands of sailors and Marines into the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
It follows an announcement earlier this week that the Pentagon is preparing to send at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division - a unit trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields - to the region in the coming day
Trump's administration is reportedly making plans for weeks of ground operations in.
They include raids on Tehran’s Kharg Island, the port out of which 90 per cent of Iran’s oil flows, and sites close to the Strait of Hormuz, the Washington Post reported.
US CENTCOM wrote on social media: "US Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility, March 27.
"The America-class amphibious assault ship serves as the flagship for the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group / 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, composed of about 3,500 Sailors and Marines in addition to transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets."
Israel's military said it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Saturday morning, the first time it had faced fire from that country.
Sirens went off around Beer Sheba and the area near Israel's main nuclear research centre for the third time overnight on Friday into Saturday as Iran and Hezbollah continued to fire on Israel.
The Houthis, a rebel group backed by Tehran, have held Yemen's capital, Sanaa, since 2014. They have claimed responsibility for the missile attack.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued the claim in a statement aired Saturday morning by the rebels' Al-Masirah satellite television.
Unconfirmed reports on Saturday evening reported that a drone was intercepted over southern Israel.
The group said on social media on Saturday evening that "they will continue, with Allah's help and reliance upon Allah, to carry out their military operations in the coming days until the criminal enemy ceases its attacks and aggression."
The Houthis had stayed out of the war as the rebels have had an uneasy ceasefire for years with Saudi Arabia, which launched a war against the group on behalf of Yemen's exiled government in 2015.
Attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about one trillion dollars (£753.7 billion) worth of goods passed each year before the war. The rebels also fired drones at Israel.
Israel struck Iran's nuclear facilities hours after threatening to "escalate and expand" its campaign against Tehran on Friday. Iran vowed to retaliate and struck a base in Saudi Arabia, wounding US service members and damaging planes.
On Friday, Brig Gen Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a pre-recorded statement outlining several ways the rebels could join the war on behalf of Iran.
"We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention in any of the following cases," Mr Saree said. They included the "continuation of the escalation against the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Jihad and Resistance, as dictated by the theatre of military operations."
In 2024, the Trump administration launched strikes against the Houthis that ended weeks later. The US-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy had faced since the Second World War.
The possible entrance of the Houthis into the war also called into question whether the rebels will again target commercial shipping travelling through the Red Sea corridor. The Houthi rebels attacked more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, from November 2023 until January 2025.
That would cause further chaos in global shipping, which is reeling from Iran's stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas once passed.
Prior to the attack from Yemen, there appeared to be a breakthrough as Tehran agreed to allow humanitarian aid and agricultural shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, accepting a request from the United Nations.
Ali Bahreini, the country's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said Iran agreed to "facilitate and expedite" such movement.
The vital waterway usually handles a fifth of the world's oil shipments and nearly a third of the world's fertiliser trade.
Security sources told Reuters that air defences shot down a drone near the residence of the leader of the Iraqi Kurdish ruling party in northern Iraq on Sunday morning.
President Nechirvan Barzani's home was targeted "in a cowardly act that represents a dangerous escalation and a violation of security and stability".
It isn't known who launched the strike on his home; both sides have blamed each other, as French President Emmanuel Macron called for action to prevent Iraq from being pulled into the conflict.
He said: "Everything must be done to prevent Iraq from being dragged into this turmoil."