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Iran said it's "waiting" and prepared to face U.S. troops on the ground, accusing American officials of secretly planning an assault while seeking negotiations to end 'Operation Epic Fury.'
“The enemy, openly, sends messages of negotiation and dialogue, but secretly is planning a ground attack,” Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to state media outlet IRNA and state-affiliated Tasnim, via NBC News.
Ghalibaf added that the U.S. was “unaware that our men are waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground so they can set them ablaze and punish their regional partners forever." The comments were made hours after the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had mapped out ground operations for a nearly full-scale invasion for weeks despite President Donald Trump and key White House figures had publicly discussed goals for negotiating an end to the war.
The USS Tripoli arrived in the Middle East on Saturday (March 28), reinforcing the United States' military strength in the Middle East with 3,500 more troops, according to a post shared on the U.S. Central Command's X account.
"U.S. Sailors and Marines aboard USS Tripoli (LHA 7) arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 27," the U.S. Central Command wrote. "The America-class amphibious assault ship serves as the flagship for the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group / 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit composed of about 3,500 Sailors and Marines in addition to transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran hadn't responded to the United States' 15-point peace proposal on Friday (March 27) but claimed there was still a "willingness to talk about certain things" from the Iranian side. Ghalibaf, however, one of Iran's few major political figures to have survived since the launch of 'Operation Epic Fury,' accused the U.S. of "pursuing through diplomacy what it failed to achieve in war."
“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, the response of your sons to these wishes is clear. We will never accept humiliation,” he said while addressing the Iranian population via NBC News.