Iran | Houthi involvement expands conflict; U.S. reports planning ground operations for several weeks (Second Edition)

The war between the United States and Iran has expanded. Yemenite Houthi forces (Houthis), which are supported by Iran, have announced their involvement and carried out attacks on Israel for the first time. The U.S. military is said to be drawing up plans for ground combat, and it is expected to maintain them for weeks.

(Second edition update: latest threats from Iran)

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Iranian Navy commander Shahram Irani threatened on Sunday (the 29th) that as long as the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group enter their range, they will become targets for Iran, firing a variety of anti-ship missiles. He vowed to take revenge for the Iranian IRIS Dena guided-missile frigate that the U.S. military had sunk.

A Houthi spokesperson said that last Saturday (the 28th), in the first attack on Israel since the U.S.-Iran war, it launched multiple ballistic missiles at several Israeli military-sensitive locations, and announced it had carried out a second attack. It vowed that it would continue to attack in the future until U.S. “aggression” stops completely. The Israeli military said it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

The Houthis have long demonstrated the ability to strike targets beyond Yemen. Joining the conflict could threaten the security of shipping lanes in the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea region, or further strike global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Iran has also continued to attack Israel and multiple countries in the Gulf region. Reuters, citing security officials, reported that a successful interception of a drone occurred near the office of President Nechirvan Barzani of the Kurdistan Region’s capital, Erbil. The officials said there were also drone attacks last Saturday. The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday that it successfully intercepted the latest round of Iranian missile strikes.

Israel’s military said on Sunday that last Saturday it continued to attack Iran’s weapons production infrastructure, including multiple warehouses and factories. Iranian state media reported the same day that Israeli strikes hit the port in the southern port city of Bandar-e-Khamir, causing at least 5 deaths and destroying two ships.

Israel’s military also continued to attack targets in Lebanon, resuming operations against Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran. Lebanese media reported that an Israeli strike hit a media vehicle, killing three Lebanese journalists. The Israeli military accused that one of the deceased was an intelligence unit member of Hezbollah and that they had reported the locations of Israeli soldiers.

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U.S. media reported that the Department of Defense is preparing an Iran ground-combat plan lasting several weeks. It could involve deploying special forces and placing traditional infantry units for raids, but it is not yet known whether President Donald Trump has approved the deployment of U.S. ground forces.

U.S. Central Command also said last Saturday that the first group of Marine Corps personnel arrived in the Middle East on Friday (the 27th) aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli. During the Iran-U.S. war, which has lasted more than a month, Washington has deployed several thousand Marine Corps members in the Middle East.

At the same time, earlier the U.S. increased deployments of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, led by the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. The unit departed from San Diego, California, on the 19th to the 20th and is not expected to reach the Middle East theater under Central Command’s responsibility until mid-April.

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