After a new verbal all-round attack from the American president, the regime in Tehran is making drastic plans.
July 24, 2026, 10:43 p.mJuly 24, 2026, 10:43 p.m
Michael Wrase, Limassol / ch media
The Iranians have “not yet received enough pain.” Donald Trump told Axios magazine this week that he was considering an attack that could be “bigger than ever before.” A decision on this is imminent and we are “fully prepared for it”.
US soldiers in Kuwait: Is an Iranian ground operation imminent?Image: www.imago-images.de
It was the clearest in a series of escalation threats to date since the US stepped up its air strikes on Iran again around two weeks ago – now for the 13th night in a row. The attacks on Friday night targeted Iranian command centers, drone depots and maritime capabilities, the American high command announced.
Analysts are, however, skeptical about whether further US threats against Iran will have any effect. Jonathan Panikoff, a former US deputy intelligence officer for the Middle East and now at the Atlantic Council, sees no reason to believe that a new wave of attacks could make Iran’s rulers change their minds. It could actually harden Tehran’s position.
According to CNN, the CIA’s internal assessments have already concluded that the ongoing bombing campaign will hardly change Iran’s negotiating position. Danny Citrinowicz from the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies expects Iran to respond to growing pressure with counterattacks instead of giving in.
Ground operations are no longer a taboo subject for the Americans. According to NBC research, Trump has expressed to advisers and Republican representatives an interest in sending ground troops – not as a full invasion, but as a limited operation, for example to secure Iran’s highly enriched uranium. The White House denied official plans. There had previously been speculation about a possible occupation of the oil shipping island of Kharg and islands on the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran’s new level of escalation
Meanwhile, threats on the Iranian side are also becoming more severe. They are explicitly directed against the neighboring states of Kuwait and Bahrain. MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, until recently a member of the parliamentary security commission, said Tehran could launch ground attacks on both countries if the US occupied Iranian territory.
The threat was exacerbated by reports that influential analyst Mahdi Khanalizadeh and former Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had openly discussed an Iranian ground offensive to capture US bases in Kuwait.
Specifically named were Camp Buehring, Camp Arifjan and the Ali Al-Salem Airbase, where US soldiers were to be taken hostage. Iranian retaliatory operations could also be carried out in the Kingdom of Bahrain, whose population is majority Shiite. There are demonstrations against the Sunni ruling family there almost every night. On Intervideos, local Shiites can be seen loudly cheering the impact of Iranian drones.
Memories of “Operation Desert Storm”
The last attack on Kuwait by a neighboring country was almost exactly 36 years ago: in August 1990, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait to declare the emirate “19th”. Province of Iraq” – an invasion that the USA under President George HW Bush responded to with the largest troop transfer since the Vietnam War. By the time “Operation Desert Storm” began in January 1991 to liberate the Emirate, over 500,000 US soldiers had been deployed to the Gulf region.
Today it is just a tenth: According to current information, a good 50,000 US military personnel from all branches of the military were deployed throughout the Middle East in mid-July. It was not said how many of these are ground troops. (schweiztoday.ch)