“Welcome to hell,” read the headline on the front page of Iran’s daily with a special English-language edition published on Friday. These words not only made a headline, but gave a strong warning to the US, which is said to be planning a ground invasion of Iran.
“American soldiers who set foot on Iranian soil will leave only in coffins,” said a report in the Tehran Times newspaper.
According to reports, the US is considering a possible ground operation on Kharg Island – Iran’s strategic oil hub – while the Iranians have begun laying mines and moving additional forces to the island.
Tehran Times Special Edition(@TehranTimes79)
Kharg Island reportedly accounts for roughly 90 percent of the country’s oil exports.
The Trump administration was considering using US troops to occupy the island and use it as leverage to open the Strait of Hormuz, US media reported.
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“Only 800 to 1,000 troops would be needed on Kharg Island”
Former US Central Command commander Joseph Votel told TWZ.com last week that while only 800 to 1,000 troops will be needed on Kharg Island, they will require a logistical backup that will also need protection.
Votel said that the troops would be very vulnerable and doubted that occupying the island would provide any particular tactical advantage.
It would be “kind of weird … But we could definitely do it if we had to,” Votel said.
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Tehran mines Kharg Island
A day after sections of the US media reported that the US was beefing up its ground presence in the Persian Gulf with the possible aim of seizing Iran’s key Kharg Islands, it has now emerged that the Iranians have begun laying mines and moved additional forces to the island.
The CNN report, citing sources, indicated that Iran is also laying traps, including anti-personnel and anti-armor mines, around the island where US troops could possibly conduct an amphibious landing.
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Iran’s parliament speaker MB Ghalibaf earlier said Iran was monitoring all enemy movements. In a post on X, he said: “According to some intelligence reports, the enemies of Iran are going to occupy one of the Iranian islands with the support of one of the regional countries.”
“Our forces are monitoring all enemy movements and if they make any move, all the vital infrastructure of this regional country will be the target of relentless, continuous attacks,” he added.
Would a US ground operation do more harm than good? Analysts say…
Operational analysts told Reuters that the alleged US targets on Kharg Island could be reached quickly, but leave US troops at great risk and prolong rather than shorten the war.
“The seizure and occupation of Kharg Island will expand and prolong the war rather than produce any decisive victory,” wrote Ryan Brobst and Cameron McMillan of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, according to Reuters.
They said U.S. troops would be exposed to missile and drone attacks, including the potentially small but deadly “first-person drone” cameras already in use by millions in Ukraine.
“After each successful strike, the Iranian regime is expected to release videos of these attacks online, using the graphic deaths of US personnel as propaganda,” they said, according to Reuters.
Analysts told Reuters that Trump will also hope that the seizure of Kharg Island will force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give it potential leverage in future negotiations.
However, Tehran could choose to lay more mines to target maritime traffic, including floating mines deployed from the coast, making the region even more dangerous for shipping already severely disrupted by the conflict.
