Qalibaf: US Talks About Negotiating But Plans Ground Attack
Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has accused the United States of "secretly" planning a ground attack in its military campaign despite talking about peace.
In a statement marking the "30th day of the Iranian National Defense" on March 29, Qalibaf said a 15 point peace plan proposal put forward by Washington is an attempt to get "what it can't achieve in the war."
On March 25, Iran said it received the proposal through intermediaries but rejected it saying it amounted to "surrender." Tehran then responded with five conditions of its own to end the war.
US President Donald Trump has ordered thousands more troops to the region, including Marines and paratroopers, for a possible ground invasion.
The new forces add to 50,000 troops that are already in the region, scattered around US bases.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this week that the deployments were meant "to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge."
UAE Air Defenses 'Actively Engaging' With Missiles And Drones
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that its air defense systems were actively responding to missile and drone attacks, as Iran threatened new strikes against the countries in the Gulf.
"UAE Air Defences system are actively engaging with missiles and UAV threats," the ministry wrote on X on March 29. The statement added that the "sounds heard across the country are the result of ongoing engaging operations."
Hours earlier, Israel said it struck a naval research site in Iran on March 28, with several blasts reported in the capital, Tehran.
Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian threatened retaliation against regional countries, many of which host US military bases: "If you want development and security, don't let our enemies run the war from your lands."
Houthis Strike Israel Again, While Iran To Allow 'Nonhostile' Nations' Ships Through Strait
Yemen's Iran-allied Houthi rebels deepened their involvement in the Middle East war, launching a second salvo of missiles within 24 hours against Israel, while Tehran said it will give permission for ships from "nonhostile" nations to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Israel intensified its attacks against Iran, targeting an Iranian naval research facility and striking the capital, Tehran, late on March 28 as the conflict continues its spread across regional borders.
And in Washington, the US military is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran, The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed US officials, with the White House suggesting that any such preparations would be routine contingency planning by military leaders.
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Pentagon Works On Plans For Possible Ground Operations In Iran: Washington Post
The US military is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran, The Washington Post reported late on March 28, citing unnamed US officials, with the White House suggesting that any such preparations would be routine contingency planning by military leaders.
The report also said it was not certain US President Donald Trump would approve the Pentagon's plans for the use of ground forces.
Any potential ground operation would not be a full-scale invasion but was more likely to involve a mixture of special forces operations and regular infantry troops, the Post cited officials as saying.
The report comes as Trump has ordered several thousands of Marines, some 2,000 members of the elite 82nd Airborne Division, and other troops to join the 50,000 already in the region.
A number of Navy amphibious assault ships and other warships are also in the region or on the way.
The unnamed US officials told the Post that the planning has been in development for weeks.
Trump has mixed threats of greater attacks with the possibilities of a peace deal in comments about the US-Israeli war with Iran, now entering its second month.
The Post reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to its inquiries: "It's the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the president has made a decision."
Officials told the Post that discussions within the administration have touched on the possibility of seizing Kharg Island, a key oil terminal of Iran and a major cog in the country's economic machine.
Other options discussed included raids on coastal areas near the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked by Iran, creating a bottleneck of oil and gas shipments and roiling world financial markets.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during a trip to Paris for the Group of Seven meeting (G7) said the United States will be able to achieve its war goals without the need for ground troops.
Trump himself has played down the possibility of ground troops, saying at one point that he was not planning to send troops "anywhere," although he appeared to leave open the possibility should it be required.
Putting ground troops into action would carry major risks -- both politically for the president and physically for those forces involved.
Israeli Military Says It Will Have Mostly Destroyed Iran's Arms Production Ability 'Within A Few Days'
The Israeli military said Iran’s weapons production capabilities will be largely destroyed "within a few days" and that it will take Tehran a "long time" to reconstitute them. Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) aim to "complete their attacks on all key components of the [Iranian] military industry" in the coming days. "This means that we will have destroyed most military production capabilities," he added. "It will take the regime a long time to rebuild them." The IDF claims to have struck some 90 percent of the key sites of the Iranian arms industry since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, according to the Times of Israel.
Yemen's Houthi Rebels Attack Israel For Second Time In 24 Hours, Group's Military Says
Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Israel on March 28 for the second time in less than 24 hours, vowing to continue military operations, according to the group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree.
A US-designated terrorist organization, the Houthis' involvement risks prolonging a war that has already drawn in US forces, Gulf Arab states, and Israel across multiple fronts.
Their entry into the conflict, ending nearly a month of restraint since the war began, raised immediate fears of a simultaneous disruption to two of the world's most critical shipping lanes.
Iran has already effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz; the Houthis have now signaled they could move against the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which roughly 10 percent of the world's seaborne oil passes.
20 Pakistani-Flagged Ships Allowed To Pass Through Strait Of Hormuz, Pakistani Foreign Minister Says
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on March 28 that Iran had agreed to allow an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with two vessels permitted to transit daily.
The Strait of Hormuz accounts for around one-fifth of global oil shipments and the effective closure of it by Iranian forces has become a central issue of the conflict, which started with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Last weekend, US President Donald Trump said the United States would "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran keeps blocking the key waterway after 48 hours.
He later extended the deadline to March 27 and then by another 10 days, as Washington awaited Iran's official response to its 15-point peace proposal, which included several key demands the United States had been pushing for prior to the war.
The Pakistani government has been acting as a mediator between Iran and the United States and has conveyed the US peace plan to Tehran. It also announced that it would host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt for talks on the matter on March 29–30.
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In separate comments on March 26, Trump said that he believed Iran was seeking negotiations because of its "present" to the United States, which he said allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran has earlier suggested that ships from "non-hostile" nations would have clear passage through the Strait of Hormuz. However, even if some vessels are allowed through, the overall uncertainty has made it difficult to secure insurance, effectively preventing ships from using the waterway.
Iranian Authorities Order Closure Of Cafe Branches In Tehran Over 'Suspicious Designs'
Media outlets close to the Islamic Republic reported that branches of a local cafe network in Tehran have been closed by order of the authorities due to what they described as "suspicious designs" on the cafe's products.
By depicting an empty chair on its paper cups, Cafe Lamiz was allegedly hinting at Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war on February 28.
It was later revealed that the design was an older painting by Farshid Mesghali, an Iranian painter and graphic artist. The painting had previously been featured on the poster of the 10th Children and Youth Film Festival, which was held in 1975.
Earlier in the year, Iranian state-affiliated media accused Cafe Lamiz of actions against national security during the January protests.
The protests were the largest in years. A subsequent crackdown by Iranian authorities resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and led to the closure of a number of businesses.
Russia Evacuates 163 More Of Its Staff From Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant In Iran
Rosatom, the Russian operator of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in western Iran, has evacuated 163 more of its staff, saying the situation at the facility continues to deteriorate.
On March 27, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Tehran had informed it of another strike that targeted the area near Bushehr. The attack made it the third such incident in the past 10 days.
While no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation were reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry called for "unequivocal and firm condemnation" of the attack near the power plant.
"We hope that... the Director General of the IAEA will be able to convey a simple message to the aggressors immediately and unequivocally: 'It is time for you to stop!'," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
The Russian-built Bushehr plant, on the Gulf coast, is Iran's sole nuclear power plant; it is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA. Russia has already evacuated some staff, but hundreds remain.
Emirates Global Aluminium: Production Base Damaged In Iranian Strikes
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) said its Al Taweelah production base in the United Arab Emirates was significantly damaged following Iranian missile and drone attacks.
EGA's chief executive, Abdulnasser bin Kalban, reported that a number of the company's employees were injured in the attacks, that targeted Khalifa Economic Zone in Abu Dhabi. He added that none of the injuries were life-threatening.
"The safety and security of our people is our top priority at EGA at all times," Kalban said in a statement published on March 28. "We are deeply saddened and are assessing the damage to our facilities," he added.
Due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway accounting for a significant share of global supply, most of the aluminium produced in the Gulf -- around one tenth of world trade -- has been unable to be shipped since the start of the war in the Middle East one month ago.
Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that EGA planned to reroute aluminium exports and raw material imports via the Omani port of Sohar.