Pentagon Is Moving Additional Marines, Warships to the Middle East

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/us-israel-iran-war-news-2026/card/pentagon-sends-marine-expeditionary-unit-to-middle-east-WeoODg0XIIe31W3np2aI

7 Comments

  1. For the people that will say this is indicative of a ground invasion of Iran, a force this size could hold an island or two in the Persian Gulf, but wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to take meaningful territory in mainland Iran.

  2. What would be the ramification of a Kharg Island occupation?

    90% of Iran’s oil exports rely on the island. Would the US cut off their oil exports entirely? Take a cut of the oil and still allow exports to China? They can’t really take over the Iranian oil industry since Iran can simply stop pumping.

    I guess the plan would be to hold the island and wait for Iran to go bankrupt? Iran could hammer the island with drones but they probably wouldn’t want to risk the destruction of their own oil infrastructure.

  3. DefinitelyNotMeee on

    How about this angle: [U.S. weighs sending special forces to seize Iran’s nuclear stockpile](https://www.axios.com/2026/03/08/iran-ground-troops-special-forces-nuclear)

    Any ground operation to steal the enriched uranium would take some time, especially if the containers are buried under rubble in collapsed enrichment facilities.
    The US has specialized units for the recovery of nuclear material, but those and the heavy equipment needed would need to be protected. Doing it from the air wouldn’t be enough, there would need to be physical security on the ground as well.