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Key Iranian Official Ghalibaf: U.S. Negotiating Publicly While Secretly Planning Ground Invasion

On March 29, 2026, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published Key Iranian Official Ghalibaf: U.S. Negotiating Publicly While Secretly Planning Ground Invasion. The lead says Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (also spelled Qalibaf), a former commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, accused the United States of talking about negotiations while secretly planning to send in ground forces. The deck adds that he said Iran's military is waiting for those soldiers, and that The Washington Post had reported Pentagon preparations for ground operations that could last weeks. An American family should care because the people in that sentence are U.S. troops. The page is an accusation plus a news report of planning.

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Americans on Iranian Soil; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. Ghalibaf's charge is one Iranian official, relayed by Iranian state media and then by Haaretz. The report that the Pentagon was preparing limited ground operations comes from U.S. officials speaking to The Washington Post, as retold by Haaretz and Al Jazeera. The White House answer, on the Al Jazeera page, confirms preparation while saying the President has not decided.

What the article says​

Haaretz says Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States on Sunday of sending messages about possible negotiations while secretly planning to send in ground forces. Haaretz attributes that accusation to a report the same day by Iranian state television.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States on Sunday of sending messages about possible negotiations while secretly planning to send in its ground forces, according to a report Sunday by the country's state television.

That is Haaretz, March 29, 2026, citing Iranian state television. It is the speaker's accusation.

The deck says he claimed Iran's military is waiting for U.S. ground forces to enter so it can "set them ablaze" and "punish" U.S. allies in the region. The deck also says that earlier on Sunday The Washington Post reported the U.S. Defense Department was preparing for ground operations in Iran that could last weeks. The Defense Department is the Pentagon, the U.S. department that runs the armed forces.

Only that lead sentence loaded in the body. The byline and the rest of the article were behind a subscription wall.

What other reporting adds​

Iran's officials kept daring US troops to come. Two days later, a post quoted an Iranian ambassador, not named in the capture: "Let them come, we are ready. They won't be able to attack us & flee like they do in fighter jets. We welcome them" (Osint613 on X, 31 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t49__v577.md). Earlier in March, Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari had released a video mocking Trump, saying: "It is better to name this war as Epic Fear, instead of Epic Fury," because, in the video's framing, America would not put boots on the ground (as relayed by @OwenGregorian on X, 18 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v150.md). In September, Mohsen Rezaee, then described as secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in a video: "Why don't they deploy airborne divisions? Why don't American ground forces enter Iran? Why do they only bomb from the sky and then leave?" (@maxosintintel on X, 20 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md).

What those taunts tell you. Each of these lines is an Iranian official saying US ground forces had not come in. They are threats and challenges, not reports of an invasion.

What it shows​

Iran's speaker said Washington was negotiating in public while planning a ground attack in secret, and on the same weekend American officials told the Washington Post that the Pentagon was preparing weeks of ground operations. The White House did not deny the plans; it said they give the President "maximum optionality." An Israeli paper put the accusation and the Post's scoop side by side. The American public, meanwhile, was being told the war could be won without ground troops. See Pentagon Ground Plans 2026 and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

On Ghalibaf, Al Jazeera quotes the Tasnim news agency, not state television. Tasnim's wording, as Al Jazeera gives it, is that "our men are waiting for the arrival of American soldiers on the ground to set fire to them." Haaretz names state television and uses "set them ablaze." Same day, same speaker, two Iranian outlets. Check both before treating either sentence as his exact words.

Status: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is alive. Donald Trump is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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