Trump leans toward ground troops in Iran as oil tops $80 for 4th day

President Donald Trump is leaning toward expanding US military operations in Iran, including potential ground troop deployment to seize islands near the Strait of Hormuz, as crude oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive day above $80 per barrel.

The US launched two waves of strikes against Iran on Wednesday — the fifth consecutive night of bombing — targeting coastal defense systems, radar sites and cruise missile storage facilities on Greater Tunb Island, according to US Central Command. The operations are designed to degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that handles about 21 percent of global crude output.

"Sometimes you need a ground campaign, but we have other people that will do the ground campaign for us," Trump said in a Fox News interview Tuesday when asked whether he would rule out deploying US ground forces. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, after receiving briefings from senior aides for several consecutive days, is leaning toward expanding military action, with options including intensified air strikes on energy facilities, seizing Iranian islands near the strait and bombing a fortified underground site near Natanz known as "Pickaxe Mountain" that is suspected of being used for covert nuclear activities.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 64 cents to $80.11 a barrel, while Brent gained 31 cents to $85.26, extending gains for a fourth straight session. US stock futures edged lower, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling 35 points and S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures dipping 0.02 percent and 0.19 percent, respectively. Gasoline prices have jumped about 30 percent since the conflict began in late February, Trump acknowledged Wednesday.

Escalation options on the table

Trump has not made a final decision on the next phase of the war, US officials said, and he has consistently expressed a preference for resolving disputes with Iran through diplomatic means. But the diplomatic deadlock has prompted him to ask aides for alternative options. "If we degrade them far enough and deep enough back, I would do that," Trump said when asked about seizing Kharg Island, Iran's primary oil export hub that handles 90 percent of the country's crude exports.

The US Navy reinstated a blockade of Iranian ports on Tuesday and has already redirected two commercial vessels attempting to run the blockade, CENTCOM said. The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on more than 50 people, ships and entities linked to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, a major enabler of Iran's oil exports and sanctions-evasion network.

Vice President JD Vance signaled the administration views military force as a tool to compel negotiations. "We're not going to bomb, bomb, bomb," Vance said on Joe Rogan's podcast. "We're going to try to use our military power as one of the many tools we have to solve the problem."

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the country is in an "existential war" with the United States but added that "we must also use the tools of diplomacy and negotiations." The last time the US and Iran engaged in sustained direct military conflict was the 1988 Operation Praying Mantis, when the US Navy destroyed Iranian oil platforms and naval vessels in response to mining of international waters.

Market stakes and forward outlook

The escalation threatens to sustain elevated oil prices and inject broader risk-off sentiment across global markets. The previous US-Iran confrontation in 2019, following the killing of Qasem Soleimani, sent Brent briefly above $70 before tensions de-escalated within weeks. The current conflict has now persisted for nearly five months with no clear endpoint, and the reintroduction of a naval blockade raises the prospect of prolonged supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said Wednesday that Iran "will be defeated very soon" but offered no timeline for ending the campaign. "I call it a military operation, but call it whatever you want, it's incredible," he said at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania, where he announced nearly $10 billion in new defense manufacturing investments.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.