Trump has reportedly shown strong interest in a ground intervention in Iran. The scenarios considered by the American experts

US President Donald Trump would have shown in private discussions a strong interest in the eventual deployment of US troops on the ground in Iran, according to US officials, a former official and a person familiar with these discussions, reports NBC News. The comments did not focus on a full-scale invasion of Iran, but only on the option of sending a contingent of troops for specific strategic objectives.

profimedia photo

Trump reportedly discussed the ground troops option with advisers and Republican officials outside the White House as he outlined a vision for a post-war Iran in which the country's uranium is secured and the United States cooperates with a new Iranian regime, in a manner similar to recent U.S. engagements in Venezuela. Trump has not made a decision on the matter and has not issued any orders associated with such an option, the sources said.

“This news is based on the assumptions of anonymous sources who are not part of the president's national security team and who are not briefed on these discussions”White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “President Trump always keeps all his options open, and anyone who tries to imply that he favors one option or another proves that he has no real seat at the decision-making table.”

Publicly, Trump has not ruled out sending “troops on the ground” to Iran, to the extent that the conflict has so far been conducted exclusively through air operations. According to the Pentagon, six US servicemen have been killed and 18 wounded in counterattacks by Iran since the start of the war on Saturday.

Trump reportedly compared his desired outcome in Iran to the situation in Venezuela after US special forces captured Nicolás Maduro earlier this year. In post-Maduro Venezuela, the United States supported a new administration on terms favorable to American interests, including access to oil production.

“I'm not afraid to send troops into the field”Trump said in a recent interview with the New York Post. He added that while previous presidents have ruled out that option, he considers it “probably unnecessary” unless circumstances dictate.

Foreign policy experts said scenarios for the deployment of US troops could include limited special missions rather than full-scale invasions. Joel Rayburn, a former Trump administration official and senior research fellow at the Hudson Institute, described the possible operations as targeted incursions to strike or disable specific targets, followed by withdrawal. He pointed out that they would play out in a different way than most Americans envision a scenario where troops would be sent into the field.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, outlined a scenario in which US troops would play a role in preventing Iran's nuclear material from becoming a risk in the event of a regime collapse. “We wouldn't want it to become a nuclear bazaar of a failed state,” Taleblu explained.

Nate Swanson, an Iran researcher at the Atlantic Council, said a protracted war could prompt the United States to consider sending troops on the ground or supporting opposition groups in Iran if it turns out that Tehran is betting it can emerge victorious in a war of attrition.

In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump suggested that he is not currently seriously considering a ground invasion, but the ideal scenario would be a new leadership in Iran that the US approves, and he offered a rough timetable for war. “I expect the war to last four to five weeks”he told NBC News, “but I leave open the possibility that it may continue indefinitely”

Leavitt emphasized that while troops on the ground remain “an option,” they are not part of the current operational plan. At the same time, Iranian officials have expressed confidence that they can withstand a ground attack by US forces. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Iran had prepared for any scenario “We are expecting them. We are confident that we can face them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”