Maroc - ENG.UATV.UA - A La Une - 02/Mar 19:01

Trump does not rule out deploying troops directly to Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump did not categorically rule out the possibility of deploying American troops directly to Iranian territory, UATV English reports. He said this on March 2 in a comment to The New York Post. Trump made it clear that he does not exclude sending U.S. forces into Iran, against which the current operation is limited to airstrikes. “As every president says, ‘there will be no boots on the ground’ — I’m not saying that. I’m saying that ‘maybe we won’t need it,’ or ‘if we were to need it.’” In his latest comments on the operation against Iran, Trump also stated that the United States “hasn’t even begun yet,” and that a major wave of attacks is still ahead. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said on March 2 that there are currently no American troops in Iran. According to the latest data, the United States has lost four servicemembers killed in action during the operation, and 18 have been seriously wounded. Three F-15 fighter jets were also lost due to mistaken “friendly fire” from Kuwaiti air defense. U.S. President Donald Trump, justifying the strikes on Iran, said this was the only way to deal with the regime there. Trump said his team had tried to negotiate with the Iranians, but “we couldn’t make a deal with these people.” Each new proposal was met with a rejection of previous offers, he noted. Ultimately, Iran refused to stop uranium enrichment, Trump said. “They had all this enriched material. They wanted to resume operations, but everything was in such bad shape that the mountain practically collapsed,” Trump said, apparently referring to the condition of Iran’s nuclear facilities after American strikes in the summer of 2025. Trump said of his military actions that “this is the only way” to deal with Iran. The latest military operation is part of a long-term campaign to eliminate the Iranian threat, Trump said. “We took out Soleimani last time,” he added, referring to the U.S. drone strike on January 3, 2020, that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. Then, Trump said, “we had ‘Northern Hammer’ — a very important operation,” referring to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025. “They were one month away from getting a nuclear weapon,” he added. Criticizing former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, Trump said: “It was a nuclear deal with Iran because it gave all the power to Iran. They would have gotten a nuclear weapon… They would have used it against Israel. Maybe they would have used it against us.” According to Trump, during the latest negotiations the Iranians “were not ready to give us what we were asking for. They had to do it.” As reported, on the morning of February 28, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had launched a large-scale operation against Iran. Israel also carried out strikes. In response, Iran launched attacks on several Persian Gulf countries hosting U.S. facilities. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth previously stated that it was not the United States that started this war, but it would be the one to end it. Trump himself earlier said that U.S. forces are “smashing Iran to pieces,” but that the “big wave” is still ahead. Read also: Zelenskyy proposes sending experts in intercepting “Shaheds” to the Middle East in exchange for a ceasefire, — Bloomberg The post Trump does not rule out deploying troops directly to Iran appeared first on Freedom.