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Report: Trump weighs ground assaults on Iran's oil and nuclear targets

On April 1, 2026, Israel National News published Report: Trump weighs ground assaults on Iran's oil and nuclear targets. The piece has no named reporter. It says The Atlantic reported that US military officials were planning two ground assaults inside Iran, one to seize an oil island and one to capture enriched uranium, and that both needed President Donald Trump's approval. An American family should care because these are plans to put American troops on Iranian territory, not only to bomb it.

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 Pentagon Ground Plans 2026; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The rated claim is that two ground options, against oil and nuclear targets, were being planned. The Atlantic story by Nancy A. Youssef and Jonathan Lemire, which this article summarizes, cites three people familiar with the plans. The Pentagon, US Central Command, and the White House declined to comment rather than deny.

What the article says​

The article says one option would seize Kharg Island, the hub of Iran's energy industry. The island handles roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil exports, and the article says US forces had already struck it. The other option would send Special Operations forces, meaning small raid units, into mainland Iran to capture enriched uranium and slow Iran's nuclear work. The article says neither raid would guarantee a quick end to the war, the fall of the Iranian government, or the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane that carries Gulf oil.

It says about 3,500 Marines and sailors had reached the region over the weekend, another 3,500 were expected, and hundreds of Special Operations forces were already there. Planners could send the incoming Marines to Kharg Island, the article says. Seizing it could cut the government's oil money and serve as a bargaining chip. Putting troops on Iranian territory, it says, would rank among the most dangerous missions of either of Trump's terms.

"Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we had to be there for a while."

President Donald Trump, in a Financial Times interview, as quoted by Israel National News on April 1, 2026. The same sentences appear in The Atlantic that day.

The article says Trump had not decided. It says some in the military privately hoped the risks would push the administration toward restraint. It also says he was getting conflicting advice: some in his circle and some Republican operatives wanted the war wound down because of the economic cost, while Tehran hawks and Gulf allies wanted the Iranian government finished.

What other reporting adds​

The FT quote, as another outlet rendered it. A digest posted on 30 March quoted the Financial Times with the fuller line: Trump's favorite thing is to "take the oil in Iran... Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options... It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while." (@ZackEiseman on X; research capture: twitter/t49__v587.md). The same digest quoted the Wall Street Journal on the second option: a mission "to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran" that "would likely put American forces inside the country for days or longer."

Warnings about the island. Joe Kent, Trump's former counterterrorism director, is quoted in a Reddit comment: "I just think that would be a disaster… It would essentially be giving Iran a bunch of hostages on an island that they could barrage with drones and missiles." (research capture: twitter/t51__v601.md; original source not found).

What happened next. Neither raid had been reported as carried out by the date of the research captures, 26 September 2026. In June, CNN reported that the uranium raid had been paused (see Trump paused 'extreme risk' commando raid). In late July, strategist Edward Luttwak complained that Trump still "refuses to risk deploying even a small number of troops to the desert islands in the Persian Gulf" (UnHerd on X, 29 July 2026; research capture: twitter/t50__v593.md).

What it shows​

By 1 April 2026 Israel National News was reporting two specific ground assaults under consideration: one on Iran's oil hub and one on its nuclear sites. Those are the same two targets that run through the rest of the year, from the Kharg Island options to the uranium raid prepared and then paused in June (Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid). No official denied the account; they declined to comment. Three days later US special forces were on Iranian soil for the F-15E rescue (Americans on Iranian Soil).

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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