Our forces waiting for US troops to set them on fire — Iranian Speaker

As reports of thousands of US marines heading to the Middle East for likely ground invasion continues to swirl, Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, threatened that Iran would “set the troops on fire”, should there be boot on ground in the country.

In a message marking 30 days since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran yesterday, he said: “Iranian forces are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever. Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”

His comments came as the Saudi Arabian foreign minister joined his Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish counterparts in Islamabad for talks aimed at reducing regional tensions.

The talks, however, do not appear to include any American or Iranian representatives, casting doubt on persistent US claims of diplomatic progress.

US secretly plotting ground attack

Despite such diplomatic efforts, the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of “ground operations” in Iran, US officials have told the Washington Post, as thousands of US soldiers and marines arrive in the Middle East

In his message Ghalibaf said: “The enemy openly sends a message of negotiation and secretly plans a ground attack,” Ghalibaf, who has served as speaker of the parliament since 2020, wrote in his message carried by the Tasnim news agency.

“The United States expresses its desires with a list of 15 points and pursues what it did not achieve in the war.

“We are in a major world war, and we must prepare ourselves for the tortuous and difficult path ahead of us until we reach the summit,” he added.

Ghalibaf was previously an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, police chief and mayor of Tehran.

Washington reportedly has thought of him as a potential partner and he is reported to be Donald Trump’s preferred choice for leader.