Pentagon Eyes ‘Weeks’ Of Ground Operations In Iran As IRGC Threatens Tit-For-Tat Strikes On Universities

Summary

• Report says Pentagon has been weeks in preparing ground operations as initial Marines arrive in region (WaPo).

• Foreign ministers of regional countries seeking peace & offramp in Pakistan meeting on Sunday.

• After two Iranian university campuses struck by attacks, IRGC issues warning for American university campuses in Middle East.

• Not just ‘damaged’ but obliterated: images show destroyed US AWACS jet at Saudi Airbase. 

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‘Weeks’ of Ground Ops Under Preparation: WaPo

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the man who many believe is de facto running the country during wartime, has said United States is busy plotting a ground attack despite publicly engaging in diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a ceasefire.

Fresh reporting in The Washington Post suggests he could be right: “The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, U.S. officials said, as thousands of American soldiers and Marines arrive in the Middle East for what could become a dangerous new phase of the war should President Donald Trump choose to escalate,” the Saturday night report indicated. WaPo further says the plans have been at least weeks in development, writing “Any potential ground operation would fall short of a full-scale invasion and could instead involve raids by a mixture of Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, said the officials. All spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss highly sensitive military plans that have been in development for weeks.”

It should be obvious to all what an ultra high-risk gambit this would be, and geography certainly isn’t in US forces’ favor. The report continues, “Such a mission could expose U.S. personnel to an array of threats, including Iranian drones and missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives. It was unclear Saturday whether Trump would approve all, some or none of the Pentagon’s plans.”

Scramble to Find Offramp: Summit in Islamabad

Several regional countries are meeting in Islamabad to try and forge a path toward ceasefire and peace. The four foreign ministers representing Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia began consultations Sunday.

The Pakistani government said over the weekend that its prime minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is working to “create a conducive environment” for peace negotiations and direct talks between Tehran and Washington as the war reaches one month. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is being kept abreast of developments in communications with Pakistan. Some progress emerging?…

Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz unharmed, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced Saturday.

Oil tanker carrying Saudi crude to Pakistan.

Map frm @Kpler pic.twitter.com/qSUSTca7k1

— Anas Alhajji (@anasalhajji) March 29, 2026

Pezeshkian told PM Sharif in a Saturday call that “Attacks on infrastructure and assassinations by aggressors show they cannot be trusted.” 

As for the Sunday summit in Pakistan, one question that must be asked is where are the US negotiators? Days ago there was chatter that VP J.D. Vance or perhaps Witkoff or Kushner might be in Pakistan, working on the sidelines, but it’s unclear what Washington’s posture on diplomacy is at this point.

The Consultations among the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Egypt have commenced in Islamabad on 29 March 2026.

Convened at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, the Foreign Ministers during… pic.twitter.com/5capTCXUNO

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) March 29, 2026

Attacks on Universities, Infrastructure

The last 48 hours saw new US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s university of science and technology in the northeast of the capital. Buildings were severely damaged – but reports of casualties have not emerged.

Israel has made it clear it is going after an array of targets, including civilian infrastructure in Iran. Iran has over the weekend retaliated in kind, sending more missiles on Israel. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is now warning that American university campuses in the Middle East are now fair game. The statement said this is because two Iranian universities have been struck. The IRGC says American universities are now “legitimate targets” unless the US officially condemns the attacks on Iranian schools by noon on Monday, according to Fars.

Tit-for-tat attacks on infrastructure escalating:

⚡️BREAKING

An Iranian missile has just struck Israel’s crucial Rotem Chemicals Plant

The plant produces sapphire domes for defence missiles and also helps Israel’s nuclear weapons program pic.twitter.com/VuAikqH6ws

— Iran Observer (@IranObserver0) March 29, 2026

The IRGC has gone so far as to release a statement urging staff, faculty, and students to vacate and stay away from theses campuses. Some notable American university branches in the Gulf (among dozens) include Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.

Not Just ‘Damaged’ but Obliterated: Images of US AWACS Jet At Saudi Airbase

Images have emerged revealing that the Wall Street Journal’s initial report that the half-billion-dollar aircraft was merely “damaged” was an enormous understatement. Rather, a large portion of the fuselage has been obliterated, along with the distinctive 30-foot-diameter, 6-foot-thick rotating radar dome that’s mounted atop AWACS aircraft. We took a closer look at the photo set here. 

The images of the destroyed E-3 Sentry were first posted on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page:

“The loss of this E-3 is incredibly problematic, given how crucial these battle managers are to everything from airspace deconfliction, aircraft deconfliction, targeting, and providing other lethal effects that the entire force needs for the battle space,” Heather Penney, a former F-16 pilot and director of studies and research at AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Air & Space Forces Magazine. If this has been carefully kept under wraps until now, what else is the White House and Pentagon not telling the public?

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