The United States has left the door open to deploying ground troops in Iran, with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth refusing to rule out the option as the conflict with Tehran escalates into its third day .
Speaking at a Pentagon press conference on Monday, Hegseth confirmed that no American forces are currently on Iranian soil but deliberately avoided pre-committing to any limits on future operations .
“No, but we’re not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do,” Hegseth told reporters when asked about ground troops. “We’ll go as far as we need to go to defend American interests” .
The Pentagon chief emphasised that the campaign, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, is not intended to become another Iraq-style nation-building quagmire . “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” he insisted. “No stupid rules of engagement, no nation building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win and we don’t waste time or lives” .
Four US Troops Killed
The conflict, which began February 28 with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has now claimed the lives of four American service members . Three F-15E Strike Eagles were also lost over Kuwait in an apparent friendly fire incident, though all six crew members survived .
Iran has responded with waves of missiles and drones against Israel, Gulf states and US military bases, while Hezbollah has launched attacks from Lebanon .
Open-Ended Timeline
Hegseth indicated the war could last between two and six weeks, depending on operational requirements . “President Trump has all the latitude in the world to talk about how long it may or may not take, four weeks, two weeks, six weeks. It could move up. It could move back,” he said .
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, warned that the campaign would not be swift. “This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives will take some time to achieve, and in some cases will be difficult and gritty work,” Caine said. “We expect to take additional losses” .
The US has achieved local air superiority over Iran and continues to flow thousands of additional troops and hundreds of aircraft into the region .
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