Iranian daily Tehran Times on Saturday came up with a bold headline on its March 28 front page: WELCOME TO HELL.
A warning below the headline read: "US troops who step foot on Iranian soil would leave only in a coffin."
This comes as the US has dispatched two contingents Marines to the region. The first contingent is expected to arrive around the end of this month aboard a huge amphibious assault ship. The Pentagon is also expected to deploy thousands of elite airborne soldiers.
On Saturday, Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen targeted Israel in a missile attack on Saturday, raising concerns about a potential blockade of the Red Sea shipping routes amid the ongoing blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he expects the ongoing military operation against Iran to end within weeks, not months. He said Washington was "on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here – a matter of weeks, not months."
While he said Washington could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region "to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge."
The deployment of troops has sparked worries about a prolonged war, which has completed one month on Saturday. The airstrikes carried out jointly by the US and Israel have killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials. In retaliation, Iran has targeted US and Israeli targets in the region, including the US bases in the Gulf nations.