President Donald Trump declined to rule out the deployment of U.S. ground forces in Iran as the military campaign entered its second week.
U.S. airstrikes have significantly degraded Iran’s military capabilities while Tehran continues retaliatory actions.
The coordinated campaign began on February 28, 2026, with strikes the U.S. calls Operation Epic Fury and Israel calls Operation Lion’s Roar, aimed at dismantling Iran’s military infrastructure and prompting regime change.
Administration officials say Tehran continued enriching uranium and threatened to build upwards of 11 nuclear weapons, which officials cite as justification for the operation.
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that although aerial operations are succeeding, he would not rule out ground troops later and warned they would be “so decimated” they could not fight at the ground level.
He added that the question remains open and that “at some point maybe we will” decide on further steps.
Trump said he has ruled out Kurdish forces entering Iran because he does not want them harmed, and he told reporters he does not want the Kurds “hurt and killed.”
Reporter: Under what circumstances would you send in ground troops? How are you thinking about that?
Trump: I don’t even want to talk about it. I don’t think it’s an appropriate question, and I’m not going to answer it.
Could there be a very good reason? There would have to be… pic.twitter.com/MI4KHTdVU2
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 7, 2026
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Kurdish forces are not part of the plan for this operation at this time.
Leavitt also emphasized that she would never remove military options on behalf of the president and said the possibility of ground operations remains “on the table.”
A report from Axios citing four sources says U.S. and Israeli officials have discussed deploying special forces later to secure Iran’s enriched uranium and possibly involve IAEA inspectors.
