The next days of the Iran war will be “decisive,” Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who revealed he had visited U.S. troops in the West Asia over the weekend, said on Tuesday (March 31, 2026).

“The upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there’s almost nothing they can militarily do about it,” Mr. Hegseth told a news conference, his first in nearly two weeks.

The United States is well aware ​of what China and Russia are ‌doing to help Iran and are confronting ​those efforts where necessary, ⁠Mr. Hegseth said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ⁠Russia has been supplying Iran with drones and intelligence to help Tehran.

Asked about reports of Russia ​and China aiding ‌Iran, Mr. Hegseth said: “As far as Russia and China, we know exactly what they’re doing, what they are or are ‌not doing.

“We don’t have to air ​publicly what all of that is, but where necessary, we’re addressing ⁠it, we’re mitigating it or we’re confronting it head on.”

Mr. Hegseth, citing intelligence, said ‌the strikes were damaging the morale of the Iranian military. This, he said, was triggering widespread desertions, key personnel shortages and causing frustration amongst senior leaders.

Mr. Hegseth also said he had visited troops in ‌the West Asia on Saturday to witness the military operation against Iran. 

The Pentagon is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran — potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz — though President Donald Trump has not yet approved any deployment, the Washington Post reported on Saturday (March 28, 2026).

Any ground operation would stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead involving raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Post said, citing unnamed officials.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted on Friday the United States “can achieve all of our objectives without ground troops,” but the Post said planning is advanced, with one official saying: “This is not last-minute planning.”

The United States is weighing sending up to 10,000 extra troops to West Asia, U.S. media reported on Friday (March 27, 2026), as speculation grows that Washington may be preparing a ground operation in Iran.

The deployment would mark a significant boost to Washington’s military presence in the region, despite U.S. President Donald Trump insisting that Tehran was taking part in peace talks with Washington to end the war.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the move would aim to provide Mr. Trump with “more military options” in West Asia, engulfed by war since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

The troops would join thousands of paratroopers and Marines who have already been ordered to the region.

An Iranian official said on Wednesday (March 26, 2026) that Tehran would retaliate to a ground invasion of its territory by Washington by activating its Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack shipping in the Red Sea.

That would open up a new front in a war of spiralling economic, political and military repercussions.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he does not plan to send ground troops into combat with Iran.

“It is unclear where precisely forces will go in the Middle East, but they will likely be within striking distance of Iran and Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub off Iran’s coast,” the Journal said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to AFP‘s request for comment.

Mr. Trump has pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran’s energy assets, assuring that talks on ending the war were “going very well.”

Israel’s military, meanwhile, said early Friday (March 27, 2026) that it carried out “a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran”.