Middle East War: Iran Accuses US of Preparing Ground Attack

Iran said it was ready to respond to a US ground attack, accusing Washington on Sunday of preparing a ground attack, even as it sought negotiations and regional powers met for talks in Pakistan to try to end the fighting.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt gathered in Islamabad to discuss ways to stop the month-long US and Israeli war against Iran, which has killed thousands of people and caused the largest ever disruption to global energy supplies.

Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, accused the US of sending messages about possible negotiations while secretly planning to send its ground forces, adding that Iran was ready to respond if American troops were deployed.

"As long as the Americans demand Iran's surrender, our response is that we will never accept humiliation," he said in a message to the nation.

The war, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran, has spread across the Middle East, with Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launching their first attacks on Israel since the conflict began on Saturday.

The attacks highlight a potential new threat to global shipping, which has already been hit by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which previously served as a conduit for about a fifth of global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas.

US Marines begin arriving in the Middle East

Washington has sent thousands of Marines to the Middle East, with the first of two such contingents arriving on Friday aboard an amphibious assault ship, the US military announced.

The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, which could include raids by Special Operations and conventional infantry troops.

According to The Post, it remains uncertain whether President Donald Trump will approve the plans for the deployment of ground troops. Reuters has reported that the Pentagon has been considering military options that could include ground forces, Reuters writes.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the US can achieve its objectives without ground troops, but was deploying forces to the region to give Trump "maximum" flexibility.

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