Cabot Phillips

The next regime is mostly dead.

Now there is a, quote, whole different group of people who have been very reasonable.

Yeah, as we speak, the latest deployment of U.S.

Marines has just arrived to the region, bringing the total number of U.S.

service members in this conflict up to 50,000, about 5,000 to 7,000 of whom are ground troops.

And The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration is currently considering deploying 10,000 more ground troops in the coming weeks.

This comes as negotiators from Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia met in Pakistan for new discussions on Sunday.

Pakistan offered to host negotiations between the U.S.

and Iran as well.

though the two countries still have not sat down.

The State Department is also urging citizens to leave Iraq immediately amid Iran-backed terror threats in the country.

Now, the White House has repeatedly stressed that President Trump has not yet made up his mind about deploying those ground forces, but that the Pentagon is ready if the order is given, and that's where these plans come into play.

Defense officials have made clear that any such operation, though, would not be a full-scale, years-long invasion like we saw in Iraq or Afghanistan, but a much more limited, weeks-long effort.

So among the plans currently being reviewed by the president are the seizure of Karga Island, which is home to crucial oil infrastructure for Iran.

There are also separate plans for raids on the Iranian coast to find and knock out missile systems that are targeting commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

That particular operation would reportedly include Marines and special forces units.

Now, some in Washington believe this threat of ground troops from Trump has more to do with negotiating leverage than legitimate military plans.

But it still looks to be a real possibility.

This conflict has so far claimed the lives of 13 U.S.

service members and injured more than 300 others.