“Welcome To Hell” – read out a chilling front page warning of Iran’s English-language daily today, amid reports that the United States is mulling the deployment of up to 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East as the war has been raging for nearly a month. The warning on Tehran Times read that any US troops who set foot on Iranian soil will “leave only in a coffin”.

The force, which will include infantry and armoured vehicles, is being sent to the region to give President Donald Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting officials in the Department of Defense. The additional force would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, it said.

As per Axios, the “final blow” strategy being worked out in the White House and the Pentagon includes large-scale bombing raids and land-based maneuvers designed to secure Iran’s nuclear stockpiles and dismantle its missile infrastructure. A formal decision on the troop surge is expected as early as next week.

The contingency plan was prepared as Iran rejected a 15-point US proposal aimed at ending the ongoing conflict and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global trade route that is responsible for 20% of all oil trade that takes place across the world. A possible ground operation in Iran’s Kharg Island is also being contemplated by the US, while Iranians have started laying mines and moved additional forces to the Island.

Iran claims heavy US casualties in strikes on ‘hideouts’ in Dubai

Iran has claimed several successes as the escalating conflict shows no sign of ending.

Earlier in the day, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that more than 500 US Army personnel were in these “hideouts”, around 400 in the first and 100 in the second “hideout”. It attributed the information to a spokesperson for the Central Headquarters of Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya.

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Quoting the spokesperson, it claimed that the ambulances in Dubai were busy for hours transferring the dead and wounded Americans.

“Trump and the commanders of the US Army must have fully understood that the region will turn into a graveyard for American soldiers, and they will have no choice but to surrender to the divine will of the heroic people and the brave warriors of Islam,” the spokesperson said, Tasnim News Agency reported.

‘Don’t let our enemies run the war from your lands’, Iran warns Gulf neighbours

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned Gulf countries not to let “enemies” US-Israel “run the war” from their lands. The Iranian leader advised countries not to allow the US-Israel to use their lands to strike Iran if they want to ensure development and security in their nation.

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“We have said many times that Iran doesn’t carry out preemptive attacks, but we will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centres are targeted,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.

“To the countries of the region: If you want development and security, don’t let our enemies run the war from your lands,” he added.