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Trump has two options for dealing with Iran

On September 7, 2026, JNS published the opinion column Trump has two options for dealing with Iran. JNS is an English-language news service that covers Israel. The author is Joseph Puder, founder of the Interfaith Taskforce for America and Israel. The line under the headline says the choice is to give in to the ayatollahs or to put boots on the ground. Ayatollahs are the senior clerics who rule Iran. "Boots on the ground" means American soldiers physically in Iran. An American family should care because a commentator, writing for a news service that covers Israel, is arguing that bombs are not enough and that US soldiers should go in.

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 Israeli Press on US Ground Troops; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. This is a named writer's recommendation, published by JNS under his byline. The proposal quoted below is in his own words.

What the article says​

Puder writes that President Donald Trump has been stuck for months in the conflict with Iran. He writes that sanctions will not move Iran's leaders, and that bombing did not bring the government down. He points to World War II, when bombing alone did not defeat Britain or Germany, and to Israel's June 2025 strikes on Iran's air defenses, missiles, and nuclear sites. Those strikes, he writes, did not topple the regime.

His first option is that Trump accept Iran's terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea passage out of the Persian Gulf. He lists those terms as an end to the war, a withdrawal of US naval and air forces from around Iran, payment for war damage, an end to sanctions, and release of frozen Iranian assets. He writes that the nuclear dispute is not even on that list, and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appears to prefer to keep fighting, or even to escalate, rather than make real concessions. The Guard, often called the IRGC, is Iran's ideological armed force. It is separate from the regular army.

His second option is an American ground attack, with local militias and European allies.

Trump's second option is to put boots on the ground and overwhelm IRGC forces around the Strait of Hormuz while pushing inwards toward Tehran.

Joseph Puder, JNS, September 7, 2026.

Puder writes that Trump would also have to "unleash" Kurdish, Balochi, and Ahwazi militias, armed groups drawn from peoples who oppose the government in Tehran, and ask NATO allies other than Turkey to join. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military alliance of the United States, Canada, and much of Europe. He then narrows the map. He writes that US forces would likely not have to go farther than southwestern Iran, the provinces of Khuzestan and Bushehr, where the oil and some nuclear sites are. He writes that Iranians might then revolt. He says the choice could cost Republicans the midterm elections. He still calls it the choice that would define Trump's legacy.

What other reporting adds​

A similar column, a week earlier. On 30 August, The Jerusalem Post ran a column by AJ Jaff arguing a ground campaign would need 750,000 to 1.5 million American troops, recruited with debt forgiveness (see The war with Iran will not be won through airstrikes). Military.com reported on that column and noted that such opinion pieces "do not represent every Israeli journalist, citizen or government official. Several contributors are American, Canadian or European." (Military.com, 9 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t58__v694.md).

What an invasion would take, per people who ran the numbers. An X user posted in March that his own fall 2025 analysis showed the US could successfully invade Iran only with conditions including "Nearly 100% mobilization of the National Guard," Iraq as the main line of departure, and allies contributing "at least 4 manouvre brigades" (@JimmyThomist on X, 28 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t54__v637.md). The analyst behind the Policy Tensor newsletter concluded: "The US cannot occupy Iran even with a draft." (Policy Tensor on X, 18 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t54__v638.md). Puder's narrower version, stopping in the southwest, is a way around those numbers, but neither analyst endorsed it.

Iranian opposition figures ask for something else. Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah, told Fox News in September: "Not asking for American boots on the ground. The boots on the ground are the people of Iran themselves." (@urgentintel on X, 23 September 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md).

What it shows​

A week after the Jerusalem Post sized an American ground army at 750,000 to 1.5 million, a second outlet covering Israel ran a column telling the President that his real choice is to "put boots on the ground" and push "inwards toward Tehran." Puder names American forces, local militias, and NATO allies as the ground force. He does not name Israeli infantry, which Israel's Channel 12 reported would stay home.

That is the pattern this section documents: the case for Americans on Iranian soil made in Israeli-focused outlets, for a ground war Israel will not fight itself. See Israeli Press on US Ground Troops and Israel Keeps Its Infantry Home.

Check it yourself​

Status: Joseph Puder is alive. Donald Trump is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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