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US planning 'weeks of ground operations' in Iran

On 29 March 2026, The Jewish Chronicle published US planning 'weeks of ground operations' in Iran. Jacob Jaffa wrote it. The deck under the headline says the Pentagon, the US Defense Department, is reportedly preparing to put American boots on the ground for the first time in the conflict, but will stop short of a full-scale invasion. An American family should care because "boots on the ground" means US soldiers on Iranian land, not only pilots and ships. The story's detail comes from the Washington Post, by way of unnamed Pentagon officials. This page did not open the Post.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The claim is that planners were preparing weeks of raids. The Jewish Chronicle's Jaffa reports it secondhand from the Washington Post's unnamed officials, next to President Donald Trump's public talk of negotiations.

What the article says

Jaffa writes that the United States is reportedly planning for weeks of ground operations in Iran. He attributes the operational detail to the Washington Post, citing Pentagon officials. Those operations, he writes, would likely be raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces, small units trained for hard targets, and conventional infantry, regular ground soldiers.

Per the Washington Post, citing Pentagon officials, these operations would likely involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops.

Jacob Jaffa, The Jewish Chronicle, 29 March 2026, summarizing the Washington Post.

He writes that the Post said the plan had been in development for weeks, even while Trump was saying in public that productive talks with Tehran had the two sides near a peace deal. The Post, as Jaffa reports it, also said any ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion.

One possible target, he writes, is Kharg Island, which he describes as the site of most of Iran's oil refinement infrastructure. Some people at the Pentagon, he reports, worried that occupying the island could provoke Tehran and leave US service members exposed to artillery and drones.

The rest of the piece is about the same week of threats and denials. Jaffa writes that Trump had repeatedly threatened escalation if Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea lane out of the Persian Gulf that in peacetime carries about a fifth of the world's oil. He writes that Trump twice delayed a deadline, then set for 6 April, after saying the United States would strike Iranian power plants if the strait stayed closed. He writes that the Financial Times subsequently reported Iran had reopened the strait to commercial traffic it called non-hostile, while Iran's parliament was said to be working on fees for ships. He also writes that Trump claimed Iran had agreed to give up nuclear enrichment and ballistic-missile development in return for lifted sanctions. The Islamic Republic, Jaffa writes, denied any knowledge of such talks and was understood to have rejected a 15-point ceasefire plan the United States offered through Pakistani mediators.

On Israel's part in the war, Jaffa writes that Israel was shifting airstrikes away from regime change and toward damaging Iran's military before any ceasefire. He quotes Channel 12's Amit Segal saying Israel had become convinced Trump might try to end the war soon, and that Israel had given up on toppling the regime by air power. He also quotes former Jewish Chronicle editor Jake Wallis Simons saying sources told him regime change was off the table because the opposition was not organized. One Israeli source, in that report, says they are in a better place, but it is not a win. Jaffa dates the joint air war he is describing to 28 February and calls Israel Washington's partner in it.

What other reporting and posts add

More lines from the Post, as readers copied them. One US official's reasoning, pasted from the Post the night it ran: "Seizing Iranian territory will embarrass the Iranian regime and create valuable bargaining chips in future negotiations, this official said." @Ayei_Eloheichem, 29 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t51__v606.md) See the full page on the Post story: Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran.

Israel's own soldiers. The same weekend, Israel's Channel 12 was reported as saying Israel would support a US ground operation "with airstrikes, intelligence, and airpower, but not infantry due to ongoing fights with Hezbollah in Lebanon and its smaller population." An X summary later noted the report was relayed by other outlets rather than posted as a statement on Channel 12's own site. X trend, 30 March 2026; caution card. (captures: twitter/t13__v148.md, twitter/t13__v150.md) Ten days earlier Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said regime change needed "a ground component," without saying whose. Just the News, 20 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t13__v147.md) Jaffa's report that Israel had "given up on toppling the regime by air power," per Channel 12's Amit Segal, fits that.

Kharg Island was on the option list. Axios had reported on 26 March, as The Independent retold it, that one option was to "invade or blockade Kharg Island." The Independent, 26 March 2026. (capture: twitter/t56__v668.md)

What it shows

The Jewish Chronicle told British readers that the US was planning weeks of ground operations in Iran, while also reporting, through Channel 12's Amit Segal, that Israel had given up on toppling the regime by air power. Put together: Israel concluded the air war could not finish the job, and the ground plans being prepared were American. See Pentagon Ground Plans 2026 and Israel Keeps Its Infantry Home.

Check it yourself

Read The Jewish Chronicle article: US planning 'weeks of ground operations' in Iran.

Status: Donald Trump is alive.

For a reader new to this: the United States and Israel began bombing Iran on 28 February 2026. The Jewish Chronicle is a British Jewish newspaper, founded in 1841, generally pro-Israel. This article is one of many that retold a Washington Post report of 28 March that the Pentagon was preparing weeks of ground operations in Iran. It adds something the American versions do not: what Israeli TV was saying about Israel's own war aims that same weekend.

Research captures: twitter/t51__v606.md, twitter/t13__v147.md, twitter/t13__v148.md, twitter/t13__v150.md, twitter/t56__v668.md

Last Updated: 2026-09-26