- Iran monitors US troop deployment of 1,000 soldiers to the Middle East
- Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warns US troops may fall victim to Israeli leadership’s plans
- Ghalibaf urges the US not to test Iran’s resolve to defend its territory
Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on Wednesday that Iran is monitoring US movements in the region as the American military prepares to deploy at least 1,000 troops to the Middle East.
In a stern warning to the US forces, he said that sending troops to the region will not solve what the US and Israeli leadership have botched. He claimed that the soldiers could become victims to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "delusions".
"We are closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments. What the generals have broke, the soldiers can't fix; instead, they will fall victim to Netanyahu's delusions. Do not test our resolve to defend our land," Ghalibaf wrote on X.
His comments come as the Iranian military has still not accepted claims regarding diplomatic progress with the United States. Iran's Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military's Khatam Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, scoffed at US President Donald Trump's 15-point ceasefire plan and said that Tehran will never come to terms with Washington.
"Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?" he said.
"Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way: Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you. Not now, not ever."
US To Deploy Elite Army Brigade To Middle East
The deployment of troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days is the latest addition of troops to the Iran war effort.
While the Marine units are trained in missions that include supporting US embassies, evacuating civilians and disaster relief, the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne, based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, are trained to parachute into hostile or contested territory to secure key territory and airfields.
Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne division walk across the tarmac at Green Ramp to deploy to Poland on February 14, 2022 at Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Photo Credit: AFP
The troops are being added just as the Trump administration says it has begun negotiations with Iran to end the war.
While speaking Tuesday at the White House, Trump said the US is “in negotiations right now” and his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are involved in the talks, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.
“We have a number of people doing it,” Trump said. “And the other side, I can tell you, they'd like to make a deal.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts. But Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, denied Trump's claim of direct talks, and an Iranian military spokesman issued a newly defiant statement vowing to fight “until complete victory.”
