Iran says ready for US ground attack

Iran said it was ready to respond to a ground attack by the United States, accusing Washington on Sunday of preparing a land assault while mediation efforts were underway to resolve the crisis after a month of fighting.

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the US of signaling openness to talks while working in secret to send in ground forces, adding that Iran was prepared if US troops were deployed.

"The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack,"Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

"As long as the Americans seek Iran's surrender, our response is that we will never accept humiliation," he said.

It came after the arrival of some 3,500 US troops in the Middle East. The US Central Command announced on Saturday on X that a task force of marines and sailors arrived in the Middle East on Friday.

Coupled with the news is a report from The Washington Post on the same day, citing anonymous US officials, that the Pentagon was preparing options for ground operations in Iran, which would fall short of a full-scale invasion but could involve thousands of troops and take weeks or months.

More than 3,000 people have been killed throughout the monthlong conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, triggering Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf Arab states, The Associated Press reported. It has also threatened oil and gas supplies with Iran's grip on the strategic Strait of Hormuz shaking markets.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday warned anew that his country would retaliate if the infrastructure and economic centers are attacked after Tehran suffered a new wave of strikes from Israel.

Pezeshkian reiterated in a post on X that Iran "does not carry out preemptive attacks", but that Tehran "will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centers are targeted".

"To the countries of the region: If you want development and security, don't let our enemies run the war from your lands," he said.

Iran fired a volley of missiles and drones at plants belonging to two of the world's largest aluminium producers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Sunday, targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.

Emirates Global Aluminium said an Iranian attack wounded six and caused significant damage to its plant, while Bahraini state media said two Aluminium Bahrain employees were injured in a second attack.

The IRGC the same day also threatened to target US and Israeli universities across the Middle East after the bombing of Iran's University of Science and Technology.

In a statement published on Iran's Tasnim News agency, the IRGC advised all employees, professors, and students of US universities in the region, as well as residents in the surrounding areas, "to stay at least one kilometer away from the mentioned universities to protect their lives".

"If the US administration wants its universities in the region not be among the two targeted for retaliation in this stage, must by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time, issue an official statement condemning the bombing of universities," the statement read.

"And if it wants its universities in the region to not be hit thereafter, it must prevent its savage allied forces from attacking universities and research centers; otherwise, the threat remains valid and will be carried out," The IRGC added.

Across the region on Sunday, the United Arab Emirates activated its air defense and reported the interception of missiles and drones. Sirens were activated in Kuwait and Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia has intercepted 10 drones.

Widening conflict

As the specter of a widening conflict grew, Yemen's Houthis on Saturday claimed their first attack of the war, firing "a barrage of cruise missiles and drones" at strategic sites in Israel.

Meanwhile, foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye were gathering in Islamabad on Sunday to hold talks in an effort to de-escalate tensions in the region. They are expected to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The four-way meeting between the top diplomats of the Muslim nations was slated to discuss "a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region", Pakistan's foreign ministry has said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held "extensive discussions" on regional hostilities.

In a post on X, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said it was great news that Iran "has agreed to allow 20 more ships under the Pakistani flag to pass through the Strait of Hormuz; two ships will cross the Strait daily".

"This is a welcome and constructive gesture by Iran and deserves appreciation. It is a harbinger of peace and will help usher stability in the region. This positive announcement marks a meaningful step toward peace and will strengthen our collective efforts in that direction," said Dar.

"Dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward," he added.

Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily that the quadrilateral engagement in Islamabad "carries measured but not decisive significance in the current escalation cycle".

On one hand, she said the presence of senior diplomats from regional middle powers "signals a coordinated attempt to create a diplomatic off-ramp at a moment when the situation risks further militarization, especially with the forward positioning of US troops".

However, the limited impact of prior calls for restraint reflects a structural reality: regional actors possess influence, but not decisive leverage over the core drivers of escalation, according to Siddiqa.

"So honestly, the Islamabad meeting should be viewed less as an immediate de-escalation mechanism and more as an effort to consolidate a regional consensus that could, over time, constrain further escalation and reintroduce diplomatic channels into an otherwise rapidly hardening security environment," she added.

Agencies contributed to this story.