← Pentagon Ground Plans 2026
WP: Пентагон готовится к «неделям» наземных операций в Иране — WP: the Pentagon is preparing for "weeks" of ground operations in Iran
On 29 March 2026, NEWSru.co.il, a Russian-language news site in Israel, published "WP: Пентагон готовится к «неделям» наземных операций в Иране". No reporter is named. The item retells a Washington Post story it credits to Dan Lamothe. An American family should care because the story NEWSru repeats says the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, was preparing for ground raids inside Iran that could last weeks. The same item says President Donald Trump had publicly denied any plan to send troops in.
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. NEWSru is passing on the Washington Post, which it says cited unnamed US officials. The page also records statements from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ground troops were not planned or needed.
What the article says
NEWSru writes that the Washington Post, citing American officials, said the Pentagon was preparing for possible ground operations in Iran that could last several weeks. It says thousands of American soldiers and Marines were already arriving in the region. It says a new phase of the war could start if Trump approved an escalation.
The page says the Post stressed this would not be a full-scale invasion. It would be raids by special operations forces, small units trained for raids, and by regular infantry, meaning ordinary ground troops. Options discussed inside the US administration included seizing Kharg Island, which the article calls Iran's key oil-export hub in the Persian Gulf, and operations on the coast near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea lane ships use to leave the Gulf. Those coastal raids, NEWSru says, would look for and destroy weapons that threaten commercial and military shipping.
Пентагон готовится к возможному проведению в Иране наземных операций, которые могут продолжаться несколько недель, пишет The Washington Post со ссылкой на американских чиновников.
NEWSru.co.il, 29 March 2026, summarizing the Washington Post. In plain English: the Pentagon is preparing for possible ground operations in Iran that could last several weeks, the Washington Post writes, citing American officials.
NEWSru says the Post's sources described the actions as taking weeks, not months, though some estimates said a couple of months. It says such an operation would be much more dangerous for American troops than the first four weeks of the war. American forces could face drones, missiles, ground fire, and mines.
The page then notes the denials. It says Trump had earlier publicly denied any intention to send troops into Iran. It says Marco Rubio had said the United States could reach its goals without a ground operation.
What other reporting and posts add
- The Post's own words and address. A post on 29 March 2026 links the Washington Post story at washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/03/28/trump-iran-ground-troops-marines/ and quotes it: "The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran...Any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion and could instead involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops." That matches NEWSru's summary. Post. (capture: twitter/t50__v593.md)
- "Weeks, not months" and "a couple of months." A 30 March 2026 digest gives the Post's two timelines in quotation marks: one person said the objectives would probably take "weeks, not months"; another said "a couple of months." Digest. (capture: twitter/t49__v587.md)
- Congress reacts. A 29 March 2026 forum post carrying a Guardian summary says Sen. James Lankford, a Republican on the Senate intelligence committee, told NBC's Meet the Press he had not ruled out supporting troops on the ground but "we've got to be able to know what the objectives are and what they're actually carrying out." Democratic Underground. (capture: twitter/t50__v598.md)
- The politics. An X trending page the same day carried a paraphrase of Politico: "Republican insiders believe if we put boots on the ground in Iran the GOP will lose 60-70 seats in the House." No Politico link came with it. X trend page. (capture: twitter/t50__v591.md)
What it shows
NEWSru, an Israeli Russian-language site, carried the Washington Post report of "weeks" of ground operations in Iran next to the denials from Trump and Rubio. That juxtaposition is the section's thesis in one page: Rubio said the aims could be met "without any ground troops" while the Pentagon prepared ground raids and Marines and paratroopers arrived in the region (No Boots on the Ground, Pentagon Ground Plans 2026).
Check it yourself
Status: Donald Trump is alive. Marco Rubio is alive.
Research captures: twitter/t50__v593.md, twitter/t50__v598.md, twitter/t50__v591.md, twitter/t49__v587.md
Last Updated: 2026-09-26