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הפנטגון וצבא ארה"ב עובדים על "מכת סיום" באיראן — The Pentagon and the US military are working on a "finishing blow" in Iran

On 26 March 2026, N12, the news site of Israel's Channel 12, published הפנטגון וצבא ארה"ב עובדים על "מכת סיום" באיראן. Barak Ravid wrote it. The article says the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US military, and United States Central Command were working on a "finishing blow" in Iran, meaning a last heavy move meant to end the fighting. It says the options included ground forces. An American family should care because some of those options are plans to put US soldiers on Iranian islands or deeper inside Iran. The same page says President Donald Trump had not chosen one, and that the White House called any ground action hypothetical.

Background for a new reader. The United States and Israel began bombing Iran on 28 February 2026; Washington calls its part Operation Epic Fury. Through March the argument in Washington was whether to add ground troops, meaning American soldiers physically inside Iran, to what had been an air and sea war. Israeli outlets, writing in Hebrew, Russian, Spanish, French and English, followed that argument closely and often passed on American reports to their readers. This page is one of those reports.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. This rates the claim that the US military had prepared ground options, including a raid deep inside Iran to seize enriched uranium. Axios's Barak Ravid, as N12 retells him, attributes it to two senior American officials and two other people with knowledge of the talks. The White House called potential ground action hypothetical and said Trump had not decided.

What the article says

Ravid writes that a sharp escalation would be more likely if diplomacy stalled, and especially if the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea passage out of the Persian Gulf, stayed closed. He says some American officials thought a crushing show of force would create leverage for peace talks, or give Trump something he could point to as victory. He also writes that Iran has a say in how the war ends, and that many of the scenarios could lengthen the fighting instead of ending it.

The article lists four main options described by American officials and people familiar with the internal talks.

An invasion or a siege of Kharg Island, which the article calls Iran's main oil-export center. An invasion of Larak Island, which the article says helps Iran hold the strait, and which it says has bunkers, weapons that can hit ships and tankers, and radars. Seizure of Abu Musa and two smaller islands near the western entrance of the strait. The article says Iran controls them and the United Arab Emirates claims them. Blocking or seizing ships that export Iranian oil on the eastern side of the strait.

Separate from those islands, the article says the US military also prepared plans for ground operations deep inside Iran.

הצבא האמריקני גם הכין תוכניות לפעולות קרקעיות עמוק בתוך שטח איראן, כדי להשתלט על האורניום המועשר שקבור במתקנים הגרעיניים.

Barak Ravid, N12, 26 March 2026. He attributes the plans to American officials and other people familiar with the talks.

The article says that, instead of that dangerous ground action, the United States could choose wide air strikes on the facilities to try to keep Iran from reaching the material.

It says Trump had not decided whether to advance any of these scenarios. It says the White House describes every potential ground action as hypothetical. Sources said he was ready to escalate if talks did not produce tangible results soon. He might first bomb power stations and energy sites in Iran, a step the article says Tehran has threatened to answer with a massive response across the Gulf.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt warned Iran on Wednesday that Trump was ready to hit harder than ever if there was no agreement. N12 quotes her saying the president is not bluffing and is prepared to unleash hell, and that any further violence would be because the Iranian regime refuses a deal. That quote is about harder strikes. It is not, on this page, an announcement of a ground operation.

The article also says more reinforcements, including fighter squadrons and thousands of soldiers, were expected in the Middle East in the coming days and weeks. It says one Marine expeditionary unit would arrive that week and another was already deployed. It says the command of the 82nd Airborne Division, a US paratrooper unit, was told to prepare to deploy to the Middle East with an infantry brigade of several thousand soldiers. The article places that preparation in the Middle East. It does not say those units were ordered into Iran.

On the Iranian side, the article says Iranian officials do not trust Trump's push for talks and see it as a trick to open surprise attacks. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, chairman of Iran's parliament, wrote on X on Wednesday that Iranian intelligence indicated Iran's enemies, with support from a country in the region, were preparing an operation to capture one of Iran's islands. The article says he probably meant the United Arab Emirates and its claim to Abu Musa. He added that if they acted, all vital infrastructure of that regional country would be hit without pause or limit. A person involved in mediation said Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkey were still trying to arrange a meeting. Iran had rejected the first US list of demands but had not fully ruled out talks. Revolutionary Guard commanders were very skeptical. The mediators had not quit.

What other reporting and posts add

• The same report in English, the same day. Bloomberg TV's Annmarie Hordern posted on 26 March 2026: "Axios: The Pentagon is developing military options for a "final blow" in Iran that could include the use of ground forces and a massive bombing campaign, according to two U.S. officials and two sources with knowledge." That matches Ravid's sourcing on N12. Hordern on X. (capture: twitter/t13__v152.md)
• The uranium raid, marked unverified. Another account posted the same day: "U.S. military has prepared plans for potential ground operations inside Iran, per Axios. Objective: secure or destroy highly enriched uranium in underground sites." It labelled the item "Unverified." Post. (capture: twitter/t49__v584.md)
• Congress hears a briefing. The day before, Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican, walked out of a classified House Armed Services briefing and posted, as a 26 March 2026 roundup quotes her: "I will not support troops on the ground in Iran. EVEN MORE SO after this briefing." Her own post was not returned. Roundup. (capture: twitter/t49__v581.md)
• A veteran's warning. Retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, a four-time combat veteran, posted on 25 March 2026 that "there is nothing of strategic significance such a tiny force of a few thousand marines and airborne troops could accomplish. It will not open the Straits." He added: "If I were a family member of any of these troops and my loved one was sent to death for the vanity of one man, I would be outraged." Davis on X. (capture: twitter/t50__v598.md)

What it shows

N12 reported to Israeli viewers that the Pentagon and the US military were working on a "finishing blow" that included a ground raid deep into Iran for the uranium. Paratroopers and Marines were already being prepared for the region. The White House word, "hypothetical," did not last: CNN reported in June that a ground mission to capture the uranium had been prepared and then paused by the president (Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid). See Pentagon Ground Plans 2026.

Check it yourself

N12, published 26 March 2026: הפנטגון וצבא ארה"ב עובדים על "מכת סיום" באיראן.

Related reports opened while writing this page, not copies of this one: N12 on 7 March 2026, דיווח: טראמפ הביע עניין בהצבת כוחות קרקעיים באיראן, and Ynet on 19 March 2026, "טראמפ שוקל לשלוח עוד אלפי חיילים": אלו האופציות הקרקעיות שלו באיראן. Both discuss ground options earlier. Neither is the sourcing for this finishing-blow list.

Research captures: twitter/t13__v152.md, twitter/t49__v584.md, twitter/t49__v581.md, twitter/t50__v598.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26