Iran warns US, Israel against attempting ground operations in new threat to 'enemies'

Iran on Thursday issued a fresh warning to the United States and Israel against launching any ground offensive, with its top military commander signalling a hardline response to potential escalation.

Army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami said operational units must track “enemy movements with utmost pessimism and accuracy” and remain prepared for all contingencies, according to state media. He added, “No enemy troops should survive if adversaries attempt a ground operation.”

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The warning comes even as U.S. President Donald Trump has said the conflict is “nearing completion” and could end within weeks. However, the parallel deployment of additional American troops to the Gulf has raised concerns that a ground offensive may still be under consideration.

Iranian state media also released silent footage showing Hatami meeting senior commanders, both in person and via video call, though the timing of the visuals could not be independently verified.

The developments underscore a widening gap between public signals of de-escalation from Washington and continued military posturing on the ground, with Tehran framing any potential land incursion as a red line.

Trump doubles down on 'major' Iran attack threat

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump defended his handling of the month-old U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in a prime-time address on Wednesday, declaring that military operations were nearing completion while reiterating threats of further escalation.

Speaking from the White House in a 19-minute address, Trump said Iran had been “decimated” and that “the hard part of the war is done,” even as he warned of intensified strikes in the coming weeks.

“Tonight Iran’s navy is gone, their air force is in ruins, their leaders, most of them terrorists, are now dead,” Trump said, adding that the country’s missile and drone systems had been “dramatically curtailed.”

He pointed toward continued military pressure, stating, “We are going to hit them very hard in the next two to three weeks.”

The president said the offensive, launched under “Operation Epic Fury,” was aimed at dismantling Iran’s strategic capabilities, including destroying missile systems and weapons production, neutralising naval forces, cutting support to proxy groups and ensuring Tehran never acquires nuclear weapons. He reiterated that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons had been a central commitment since his 2015 campaign.

According to Trump, U.S. strikes over the past month have targeted weapons factories and rocket launch sites, with ongoing operations against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which he said “is being decimated.” He added, “The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust."

In a shift from earlier demands, Trump said he no longer prioritised Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, telling Reuters it was “so far underground” that U.S. surveillance could monitor it instead.

Also read: Hormuz to ‘open naturally’, Iran will be hammered ‘very hard’: Trump sends mixed signals on war

Iranian missiles could have breached American walls: Trump

Trump also asserted that Iran’s missile programme had been advancing toward the capability to strike the American homeland, which he said justified the intervention.

Addressing concerns over global energy markets, he said disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz would ease and blamed rising fuel prices on Iranian actions. “Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home,” he said. “This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers of neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.”

He maintained that the United States no longer depends on Middle Eastern oil but remains engaged to support allies. “We’re now totally independent of the Middle East, and yet we are there to help. We don’t need their oil. We don’t need anything they have,” he said.

Framing the war as a long-term investment, Trump said the United States was “unstoppable” as a military force and described the conflict as “a true investment” for future generations.

The address, delivered amid high global oil prices and declining approval ratings, was Trump’s first prime-time speech since the war began on February 28. While initially expected to reassure Americans wary of another prolonged conflict, the speech offered only limited acknowledgement of domestic economic concerns, which Trump suggested would ease once the war concludes.