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Three weeks into a war that has already seen more than 7,800 US strikes against Iranian targets, the Trump administration is now weighing its next moves — and they could involve American boots on the ground inside Iran itself. According to a report by Reuters, citing one US official and three people familiar with the matter, the administration is considering deploying thousands of additional troops to the Middle East as it prepares for a potential escalation of what the Pentagon has named Operation Epic Fury.
The discussions remain at the options-weighing stage, and no deployment decision has been made. But their scope — ranging from naval operations in one of the world's most strategically vital waterways to ground missions deep inside Iranian territory — signals that the White House is thinking well beyond the air and missile campaign that has defined the conflict so far.
The Strait of Hormuz: A Chokepoint at the Centre of Everything
Among the options under active discussion is a mission to secure safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which a significant portion of the world's seaborne oil supply passes. The strait has effectively shut down under threat from Iran's military, sending oil prices surging and rattling global energy markets.
Securing the strait would primarily rely on air and naval forces, according to Reuters' sources. But four people familiar with the matter — including two US officials — said that achieving meaningful control could also require deploying American troops to Iran's shoreline, a prospect that would represent a significant and politically explosive escalation.
Trump has in recent days openly expressed frustration with US allies over their reluctance to assist in securing the route, while simultaneously insisting that Washington does not require outside help.
Kharg Island: The 90% Hub That Could Change the War
Perhaps the most consequential option being discussed is a possible ground operation targeting Kharg Island, the hub through which an estimated 90 per cent of Iran's oil exports flow. Three people familiar with the matter and three US officials told Reuters that the administration has discussed sending ground forces to the island — though at least one official acknowledged such a mission would be "very risky," given Iran's demonstrated capacity to strike the island with missiles and drones.
The US military carried out strikes against military targets on Kharg Island on 13 March, and Trump has separately threatened to attack Iran's broader oil infrastructure. However, military analysts suggest that controlling the island — rather than destroying it — could be viewed as the more strategically and economically rational option, given its outsized role in Iran's economy.
Securing Iran's Enriched Uranium: A Mission of Exceptional Complexity
The discussions extend beyond oil infrastructure. One person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the administration has also explored the possibility of deploying US forces to secure Iran's stockpiles of highly enriched uranium — a mission that experts describe as extraordinarily complex and dangerous, even for elite special operations units.
The prospect raises profound strategic and non-proliferation questions. Enriched uranium stockpiles are dispersed, heavily guarded, and in some cases located in hardened facilities. Securing them under combat conditions, without triggering a broader catastrophe, would be among the most demanding missions in recent military history.
The White House Speaks on Iran War— Carefully
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pushed back against any suggestion that decisions had been taken, while making clear that all possibilities remained on the table: “There has been no decision to send ground troops at this time, but President Trump wisely keeps all options at his disposal. The president is focused on achieving all of the defined objectives of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran's ballistic missile capacity, annihilate their navy, ensure their terrorist proxies cannot destabilize the region, and guarantee that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”
The Scale of the US' Campaign in Iran So Far
The sheer volume of military activity already under way is striking. Since launching the war on 28 February, the US military has carried out more than 7,800 strikes against Iranian targets, damaging or destroying more than 120 Iranian vessels, according to a factsheet released by US Central Command — the command overseeing the roughly 50,000 US troops currently deployed across the Middle East. The campaign has targeted Iran's navy, its missile and drone arsenals, and its defence industrial base.
The Political Risk of US Ground Troops in Iran
Any deployment of ground forces into Iran — even a limited or narrowly defined one — would carry significant domestic political risk for Trump. Public support for the Iran campaign has been limited, and the president campaigned explicitly on a promise to keep the United States out of new Middle Eastern conflicts. Crossing the threshold from air strikes to ground operations would invite immediate and intense scrutiny from Congress and the public alike.
Sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters they did not believe a ground force deployment anywhere inside Iran was imminent.
Trump Suspends the Jones Act to Stabilise Oil Markets
As military options are debated behind closed doors, the economic fallout from the war is already shaping domestic policy. Trump issued a 60-day waiver of the Jones Act — a law dating to 1920 that requires goods transported between US ports to be carried on US-flagged vessels — in an attempt to stabilise oil markets rattled by the conflict. The White House confirmed the decision to CNBC on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the temporary suspension "will allow vital resources like oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and coal to flow freely to US ports for sixty days," adding that the administration "remains committed to continuing to strengthen our critical supply chains."
Oil prices have climbed sharply since the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 3.83 per cent on Wednesday to close at $107.38 per barrel, while US crude ended the day nearly unchanged at $96.32.
Economists have noted the measure's practical limitations. Daleep Singh, chief global economist at asset manager PGIM, pointed to a structural mismatch between US refining capacity and domestic oil production: "Put plainly: the US can now move fuel around more easily, but it still can't refine enough of what it produces for self-sufficiency." There are fewer than 100 Jones Act-compliant vessels in existence, meaning the waiver opens the door to a far larger pool of international tankers to carry fuel between US ports.
Maritime Labour Groups Push Back Hard
The move has drawn immediate fire from the maritime industry. A coalition of nine US maritime labour groups issued a joint statement Wednesday warning that the broad waiver "undermines our national security, weakens military readiness, and hands critical maritime work to foreign vessel operators."
The groups also challenged the premise that suspending the law would meaningfully ease pressure at the petrol pump: "It has been plainly shown that the primary driver of gasoline prices remains the global cost of crude oil, and multiple analyses demonstrate that domestic shipping accounts for less than one cent per gallon."
The tension between the administration's emergency economic measures and the political backlash they are generating underscores the broader bind Trump faces: a war that is reshaping global energy markets, straining alliances, and testing the limits of what the American public — and American law — will support.
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