Even as U.S. President Donald Trump has sent mixed signals about the timeline of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the White House said on Tuesday that the United States has not ruled out the possibility of deploying ground troops in Iran.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Operation Epic Fury—the military campaign against Iran—would continue until its objectives are fully achieved.
She was responding to concerns raised by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal about the potential deployment of U.S. troops to Iran.
“As for boots on the ground, the President has addressed this repeatedly. As Commander-in-Chief, he wisely does not rule out any options,” Leavitt said.
“So again, I would hesitate to confirm anything that a Democrat on Capitol Hill says right now about the President’s thinking,” she added.
According to reports, Blumenthal left a Senate Armed Services Committee briefing on Tuesday and told reporters that he believes the Trump administration is moving toward placing American troops on the ground in Iran.
“We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish some of the potential objectives,” he was quoted as saying by The Hill.
Leavitt reiterated that the military campaign would end only when its goals are met and Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States.
“When those objectives are met, the President will decide when these operations should conclude, once he determines that Iran no longer poses a credible threat to the United States of America,” she said.
The Press Secretary also claimed that U.S. forces have made significant progress in achieving the campaign’s objectives.
“More than 5,000 enemy targets have been struck so far. Iran’s ballistic missile attacks have decreased by more than 90 percent, and their drone attacks are down by approximately 85 percent since the start of Operation Epic Fury,” she said.
Leavitt added that more than 50 Iranian naval vessels, including a major drone carrier ship, have been destroyed during the operation.
“The U.S. military is also moving to dismantle Iran’s missile production infrastructure. Our B-2 bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs on deeply buried missile sites,” she said.
On Monday, President Trump said the war with Iran could end soon, noting that the United States had already achieved most of the objectives of its military campaign. Tehran responded sharply, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) asserting that it would determine when the conflict should end.