A satellite view of Qeshm Island in Hormozgan Province, Iran, within the Strait of Hormuz region on January 17, 2026.
Gallo Images | Gallo Images | getty images
The US is preparing to send thousands more troops to the Middle East, sparking speculation of a ground attack on Iran amid conflicting accounts of peace talks.
Pentagon is Allegedly Nearly 3,000 troops from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, along with two Marine expeditionary units, are being prepared to be sent to the Middle East to assist in military operations in Iran. CNBC has contacted the White House and is awaiting response.
Military experts said the number of additional troops being deployed to the region appears to be in line with plans for isolated and time-limited operations rather than a sustained ground campaign.
It puts two strategic Iranian islands in the spotlight and raises questions about a possible move to seize the Islamic Republic’s nuclear material.
Retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis estimated that there were probably only 4,000 to 5,000 “trigger pullers” or ground troops.
“It’s enough to hold a small target for a period of time. You have to understand, even the 82nd Airborne Division, this is an immediate reaction force to provide a very quick response on the ground, but not before something larger gets behind it,” Davis, a senior fellow and military expert at Defense Priorities, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.
“I have seen no evidence that a force of any kind of size was contemplated, much less alerted, prepared, equipped, trained that you would need to go in… It takes months to do that.”
Qeshm Island, Kharg Island and nuclear material
Davis said that, with a limited number of ground troops deployed, there were three possibilities the US could theoretically execute.
The first possibility is to capture Qeshm Island, which is located “at the horseshoe bend of the Strait of Hormuz,” Davis said.
Qeshm Island, off the southern coast of Iran, is the largest island in the Persian Gulf. is located near The arrow-shaped island in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz has emerged as a potential US target amid reports that anti-ship missiles, mines, drones and attack ships are being placed in underground tunnels.
Davis said a second target could be Iran’s Kharg Island, the centerpiece of Iran’s oil industry, while a third scenario is a raid to capture more than 400 kilograms of reprocessed material, provided the US can locate it and it is concentrated enough to make the raid feasible.
Often referred to as its “oil lifeline”, Kharg Island is a coral island located about 15 miles off the coast of mainland Iran.
It is estimated that about 90% of the country’s crude oil exports pass through here before passing through the Strait of Hormuz in tankers. The island’s economic importance to Iran makes it particularly vulnerable to the threat of military action, although analysts say seizing it would likely require a ground military operation, which the US has previously appeared reluctant to undertake.
“The overall idea is to deny Iran’s abilities to use those islands,” Kevin Donegan, a retired vice admiral and former commander of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, told CNBC’s “Morning Call” on Wednesday.
He said, “A lot of things can come at you from mines and missiles and cruise missiles… but a lot of them have already been exhausted or largely destroyed. So, the mission is completely executable. The real question is how long will it take to do and when can the flow be restored.”
One of Tehran’s top lawmakers said Wednesday he was anticipating a possible attack by “Iran’s enemies” to try to take over one of Iran’s islands.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said, “All enemy activities are under the full supervision of our armed forces.” Said According to Google Translate, on
“If they go beyond the border, all the critical infrastructure of that regional country will become the target of continuous attacks, without any restrictions,” he said.
US forces are not in favor of fighting a long land war
Reuben Stewart, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank, said the number of US forces preparing to deploy was not commensurate with a sustained ground campaign.
“Notably absent are the heavy armored units, logistics depth and command structures needed for a prolonged land war. In practical terms, this is a force that can act quickly and selectively, but not one that can sustain operations inside or within Iran for long,” Stewart told CNBC by email.
He said, “Given the centrality of Iran’s oil exports, seizing Kharg Island is technically possible but risky. Conversely, securing Iran’s nuclear material with this force would be least realistic because it would require a far larger, sustained ground presence.”
A man holds an Iranian flag, showing the faces of Iran’s late and new supreme leaders Ali and Mojtaba Khamenei, on Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran on March 25, 2026.
– | AFP | getty images
As US President Stewart put it, the relatively limited level of deployment is perhaps best understood as a tool of coercive leverage. Donald Trump’s administration wants to boost its bargaining power and signal it has options if diplomacy fails.
The White House has said that Trump “productiveTalks took place with Iran over the past three days, stating that the military operation in Iran was “ahead of schedule”.
However, Iran has repeatedly refused to negotiate with Washington.