U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that American ground troops could be deployed to Iran to secure the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium as part of efforts to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear program.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said the option had not yet been taken but could be considered in the future.
“At some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of sending troops to secure Iran’s uranium facilities.
“We haven’t gone after it yet, but it’s something we could do later,” he added.
The comments come as the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran continues to escalate following the launch of coordinated air strikes against Iranian targets last week.
Some critics of the U.S.–Israeli military campaign argue that air strikes alone may not be enough to achieve Washington’s stated goal of weakening Iran’s military capabilities and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked directly whether ground forces might eventually be deployed, Trump did not rule out the possibility.
“Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason — it would have to be a very good reason,” he said.
He also claimed that if U.S. forces were ever deployed on the ground, Iranian forces would already be too weakened to mount serious resistance.
“And I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level,” Trump added.
The remarks are likely to fuel further debate about the scale of the military campaign and whether the conflict could expand beyond air and missile strikes. Analysts warn that the introduction of ground troops could significantly widen the war and increase tensions across the Middle East.
