<\/p>
Iran\u2019s military issued a sharp warning to US President Donald Trump against any ground operation in the Persian Gulf, saying American troops would \u201cbecome food for the sharks\u201d if they attempted an occupation amid the escalating conflict in West Asia.\u00a0<\/p>
The warning came in a video statement by Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, who said Iranian forces were \u201ccounting down the moments\u201d to respond if US troops were deployed on the ground.\u00a0<\/p>
Iran warns of retaliation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Zolfaqari said Iranian forces were prepared for a direct confrontation if Washington expanded the conflict beyond air and naval strikes.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cOur forces are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,\u201d said Iran\u2019s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.\u00a0<\/p> Qalibaf added that Tehran\u2019s military operations would continue despite mounting pressure.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cOur firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p> Regional diplomacy intensifies\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> The warnings came as regional powers met in Islamabad, Pakistan, to discuss possible diplomatic pathways to end the month-long war in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/p> The meeting brought together foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, signalling growing regional concern over the expanding conflict.\u00a0<\/p> Asif Durrani, a senior defence analyst in Pakistan, said mediation efforts were gaining traction.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cDialogue, not pressure, is the only path to durable peace and stability,\u201d he said, noting that multiple regional players were now backing diplomatic engagement.\u00a0<\/p> US troop movements and Houthi involvement\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> The diplomatic push comes as about 2,500 US Marines arrived in the region, reinforcing American military deployments in the Persian Gulf.\u00a0<\/p> At the same time, Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen have entered the conflict, widening the scope of the fighting and raising fears of a broader regional war.\u00a0<\/p> Civilians feel impact of conflict\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Meanwhile, civilians are increasingly feeling the economic and humanitarian toll of the war.\u00a0<\/p> Iranians crossing into southern Iraq on March 29 urged the United States to halt the conflict, citing relentless airstrikes, rising prices and deteriorating living conditions.\u00a0<\/p> One of them, 30-year-old Atef al-Fatlawi, told the Associated Press <\/em>that her family had crossed from the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz into Iraq through the Shalamcha border crossing in Basra.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cA message to America: Stop the war,\u201d she said, adding that soaring food prices had forced her to cross the border to buy groceries such as rice, which had become cheaper in Iraq.\u00a0<\/p> Al-Fatlawi said an explosion near her home had shattered windows and frightened her young child, highlighting the growing anxiety among civilians living near strike zones.\u00a0<\/p> Missile arsenal largely intact\u00a0<\/strong><\/p> Despite weeks of strikes targeting Iran\u2019s missile infrastructure, US forces have only destroyed about a third of Tehran\u2019s missile and drone arsenal, according to a report by Reuters<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p> The report said roughly another third of Iran\u2019s missiles may be damaged or buried in underground tunnels and bunkers, suggesting a significant portion of the country\u2019s strategic arsenal remains intact.\u00a0<\/p> The assessment raises questions about the effectiveness of the campaign aimed at degrading Iran\u2019s ballistic missile capabilities and underscores the risk of prolonged military escalation in the region.<\/p> <\/div> Iran US conflict, Iran warning to Trump, Persian Gulf tensions, US Marines Middle East deployment, Iran missile arsenal, Iran drone arsenal, West Asia war escalation, Iran Houthi rebels involvement, US Iran military standoff, Middle East conflict latest news#West #Asia #conflict #Iran #warns #troops #039food #sharks039 #ground #begins1774805139<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Iran\u2019s military issued a sharp warning to US President Donald Trump against any ground operation in the Persian Gulf, saying American troops would \u201cbecome food for the sharks\u201d if they attempted an occupation amid the escalating conflict in West Asia.\u00a0 The warning came in a video statement by Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson for Iran\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[20341,5680,1887,1856,13888,968,20336,20338,20335,20331,20332,20340,20333,20342,2656,20339,20334,326,2182,20337],"class_list":["post-5469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-content-marketing","tag-039food","tag-asia","tag-begins","tag-conflict","tag-ground","tag-iran","tag-iran-drone-arsenal","tag-iran-houthi-rebels-involvement","tag-iran-missile-arsenal","tag-iran-us-conflict","tag-iran-warning-to-trump","tag-middle-east-conflict-latest-news","tag-persian-gulf-tensions","tag-sharks039","tag-troops","tag-us-iran-military-standoff","tag-us-marines-middle-east-deployment","tag-warns","tag-west","tag-west-asia-war-escalation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}