Pentagon Mulls Ground Assault on Iran's Kharg Island Oil Hub
The troops under consideration would be drawn from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division's "Immediate Response Force," a rapid-reaction brigade of approximately 3,000 soldiers engineered to mobilize and deploy anywhere on the globe within 18 hours, the report said. Crucially, no formal deployment order has yet been issued by either the Pentagon or U.S. Central Command.
Among the scenarios being examined is a potential operation to seize Kharg Island — Iran's principal oil export terminal and a strategic chokepoint in global energy supply chains.
A parallel option under review, should U.S. President Donald Trump authorize a ground seizure of the island, would involve a strike force of roughly 2,500 troops from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, currently en route to the Middle East, the outlet reported, citing officials who spoke under the condition of anonymity. The "Immediate Response Force" ready brigade has been activated on short notice on multiple occasions in recent years, the report added.
The deliberations come as the scale of the U.S.-led air campaign comes into sharper focus. U.S. Central Command disclosed Monday that American forces have conducted more than 9,000 strikes inside Iran since Washington and Israel launched coordinated military operations on Feb. 28 — a campaign that has damaged or sunk over 140 Iranian naval vessels, severely disrupted international shipping lanes, sent oil prices spiraling, and delivered a shockwave through the global economy.
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