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Donald Trump has shown 'serious interest' in putting US boots on the ground in Iran.
08:21, Sat, Mar 7, 2026 Updated: 08:21, Sat, Mar 7, 2026
Donald Trump's team deny the US leader is mulling troop deployments inside Iran (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump has shown "serious interest" in putting US boots on the ground in Iran, insiders claim. Military insiders said the US President told advisers he would need to deploy US troops to carry out his "vision" for the country.
The unnamed officials said Mr Trump is not mulling a full-scale invasion. Instead, he is said to prefer a small number of troops to enter Iran for strategic purposes. The insiders told NBC News Mr Trump wants to control Iran in a way similar to his power over Venezuela since US forces seized the South American country's President Nicolás Maduro and its oil reserves.
The White House denied Mr Trump was planning to send US soldiers to Iran. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the report was "based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the President’s national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions".
Ms Leavitt, quoted by the Mail, said: "President Trump always wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favour of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table."
Reports of Mr Trump's apparent wish to deploy US troops in Iran comes as Israel and the United States kept up their airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
Iranian fire targeted Gulf Arab states on Saturday. There were repeated attacks on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Trump has said he will not negotiate with Iran without its "unconditional surrender" as US officials warned a forthcoming bombing campaign would be the most intense yet in the weeklong war.
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Israel kept up airstrikes on Iran and Lebanon overnight (Image: Getty)
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that the US demand for an unconditional surrender was a "dream that they should to take to their grave".
He also apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, insisting Tehran would halt them. Mr Pezeshkian suggested they had been caused by miscommunication in the ranks.
Israel and the US have battered Iran with strikes, targeting its military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program.
The war goals have repeatedly shifted, as the Trump administration has at times suggested it wants to topple Iran’s government or trigger a change of leadership from within the Republic's regime.
In a social media post on Friday, Mr Trump said: "There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! … and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s)".
He wrote the US and its allies would help rebuild Iran, making it "economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before".
Those comments were likely to raise further questions about the endgame of the war, which has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel. Six US troops have been killed.
Sirens sounded on Saturday in Bahrain as Iranian attacks targeted the island kingdom.
Saudi Arabia said it destroyed drones headed toward its vast Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts US forces.
Several blasts were heard in Dubai on Saturday morning and the government said it had activated air defences.
Passengers waiting for flights out of Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, found themselves ushered into train tunnels at the sprawling airfield after the alert sounded.
The White House says Mr Trump always 'wisely keeps all options open' (Image: Getty)
Emirates said that "all flights to and from Dubai have been suspended until further notice".
Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that the war could "bring down the economies of the world".
He predicted a widespread shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could send oil to $150 a barrel.
The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude rose above $90 on Friday for the first time in more than two years.
Meanwhile, Russia has provided Iran with information which could help Tehran strike US warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with United States intelligence on the matter.
The people, who were not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that US intelligence has not uncovered Russia directing Iran on what to do with the information.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a TV interview on Friday that the "biggest bombing campaign" of the war was still to come.
Israel has said over the past week it heavily bombed an extensive underground bunker which Iranian leaders had planned to use during the hostilities.
New information has also surfaced suggesting that a deadly explosion at a school in the Iranian city of Minab was likely caused by US airstrikes.
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Iranian state media has said more than 165 people were killed in the blast, most of them of children.
The Islamic Republic has blamed Israel and the US for the explosion. Neither country has accepted responsibility, though US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Washington is investigating.
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