Opinion | Iran May Be Far More Prepared For A 'Ground Invasion' Than Trump Thinks |
Mar 27, 2026 12:44 pm IST
Opinion | Iran May Be Far More Prepared For A 'Ground Invasion' Than Trump Thinks
The troops provide Trump with several options, such as invading or blockading Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, or even Qeshm.
Naresh Kaushik Naresh Kaushik Columnist
Naresh Kaushik Columnist
The past week has not gone well for Donald Trump. He was forced to back down from his threat to attack Iran's power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours. Tehran firmly rejected his plan to end the war and denied Trump's claims that the two sides were engaging in negotiations. Trump's approval ratings dropped to their lowest level since he returned to the White House. Additionally, Democrats gained two legislative seats in Florida, including one in Palm Beach County, which covers Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort.
As the Iran war approaches its second month, Trump has insisted that talks are ongoing and that Iran was "begging for a deal" while US troops continue to build up in the Gulf. Some messages have been exchanged between the two sides, but there is no evidence that any bilateral discussions have taken place. Iran has not only rejected the 15-point US plan, which mostly favoured Israel and the US, but also put forward its own alternative plan.
Iran's counterproposal outlined five "conditions for ending the war": the acts of "aggression" coming to an end, ensuring the war will not recur, payment of war damages and reparations, the ending of the war across all fronts, and Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Previously, it also demanded an end to all US bases in the Gulf.
The maximalist demands from both sides indicate that there is little genuine effort to reach a negotiated settlement to end the conflict. Iran doesn't trust the Trump administration, which has attacked it twice in less than a year while negotiations were ongoing. There is no doubt that the war has not gone according to Trump's wishes, and he seems desperate to end it by any means.
Iran believes that Trump is using the pretext of negotiations to buy time to prepare for a ground invasion. "Iran's enemies, with the support of a country in the region, are preparing an operation to occupy one of Iran's islands," warned Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, in a post on X on Wednesday. Therefore, instead of entering into negotiations, Iran has decided to prepare to defend its territory against the suspected US plan.
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