With reports now stating over 5,000 Marines, accompanied by a number of Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG), and several thousands Soldiers with the 82nd Airborne Division are on their way to the Middle East, chances that the United States will launch a ground invasion of Iran before the end of 2026 have skyrocketed on Polymarket, currently sitting at roughly 57%, up over 40% since the beginning of March.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump attacks David Sanger and The New York Times for an article published earlier today questioning if all objectives have truly been achieved so far during the Iran War, with Trump stating, “The United States has blown Iran off of the map,” once again saying that the operation is “weeks ahead of schedule! Their leadership is gone, their navy and air force are dead, they have absolutely no defense, and they want to make a deal. I don't! We are weeks ahead of schedule.”

In a post moment ago on TruthSocial, U.S. President Donald J. Trump states that if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, then the United States will hit and “obliterate” power plants across Iran.

F/A-18E Super Hornets with the “Tophatters” of Strike Fighter Squadron 14 (VFA-14) and the “Vigilantes” of Strike Fighter Squadron 151 (VFA-151), assigned to Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9), take off from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for strikes against Iran in support of Operation Epic Fury, March 17, 2026.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense has announced a helicopter crashed in the territorial waters of the country earlier due to a “technical malfunction during routine duty,” with search and rescue operations ongoing off the coast of Qatar.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center (UKMTO) has received a report of an attack on a commercial vessel 15NM north of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

The Spokesman for the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, has stated following tonight’s 48-hour ultimatum by U.S. President Trump, that if the United States attacks fuel or energy infrastructure in Iran, then they will attack U.S. and allied energy, information technology, and desalination infrastructure across the Middle East.

Footage published Sunday by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shows a surface-to-air missile appearing to just barley miss a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle operating over Hormuz Island in the Persian Gulf, with the IRGC claiming that the F-15E was successfully downed over the Gulf.

Exoatmospheric interception of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile seen earlier tonight over Al-Asharah in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate of Eastern Syria, likely carried out by an SM-3 fired by a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer positioned in the Eastern Mediterranean.

More footage showing an exoatmospheric interception of an Iranian ballistic missile tonight, this time over Southern Israel, by either a U.S. Navy SM-3 or an Israeli Arrow-3 Anti-Ballistic Missile Interceptor, the only two systems capable of exoatmospheric interceptions over the Middle East.

Reza Pahlavi, the Exiled Crown Prince of Iran, has called on U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt further attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure, following yesterday’s 48-hour ultimatum against power plants in Iran by President Trump, with the Crown Prince stating, “The Islamic Republic's infrastructure is the machinery of repression and terror used to keep that future from becoming reality. Iran must be protected. The regime must be dismantled.”

According to a U.S. intelligence report, assembled prior to the anti-government protests in early January, which was shown to President Donald J. Trump a week before the start of the Iran War, Reza Pahlavi, the Exiled Crown Prince of Iran, they concluded lacked a sufficient network inside the country to lead an effective overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

“They never took him that seriously,” Vali Nasr, a Professor at Johns Hopkins, said of the Trump Administration. “There’s a difference between having an organization on the ground versus just having people who like you. If you’re going to help change a regime, you have to have a ground game.” Trump and his aides began referring to Pahlavi as the “loser prince,” according to The New Yorker.

Senior American officials in recent days have told their counterparts in Israel and other countries that the United States will be forced to launch a ground operation to capture Iran’s Kharg Island, the primary oil export terminal for the Islamic Republic, in the Northern Persian Gulf, according to two sources familiar with the details who spoke to Israel’s i24News.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham speaking today on Fox News, advocating for a ground invasion of Iran’s Kharg Island in the Northern Persian Gulf: “We've got two Marine Expeditionary Units sailing to this island. We did Iwo Jima. We can do this. The Marines, my money is always on the Marines.”

U.S. Forces suffered over 26,000 casualties in the Battle of Iwo Jima, including 6,821 dead, in an operation which lasted 36 days and involved an island about the same size as Kharg Island.

Israel is interested in a wide-scale attacks on Iran’s energy facilities and supports the recent 48-hour ultimatum issued by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, according to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has published a compilation of strikes against various one-way attack drones across Iran.

During a phone interview today with Israel’s Channel 13, U.S. President Donald J. Trump stated about his recent ultimatum against Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: “You’ll find out what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna find out soon. It’s gonna be very good. Total decimation of Iran. It’s gonna work out very good.”

Iran has decided to limit its attacks on Saudi Arabia and Qatar out of concern that continued strikes could trigger a direct Saudi military response, however, strikes against Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates will “continue as usual,” two sources told The Jerusalem Post.

The Israeli Air Force, part of an extensive wave of strikes Sunday morning against Hezbollah and civilian infrastructure across Southern Lebanon, targeted and destroyed the Al-Qasimia Bridge over the Litani River near Tyre in Southwestern Lebanon.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement earlier today, following yesterday’s 48-hour ultimatum and threat issued by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, that the Strait of Hormuz is “not closed,” and that, “No insurer - and no Iranian - will be swayed by more threats. Try respect”

Asked about what he thought of today’s statement from Iran’s Foreign Minister saying Iran would not be swayed by threats after President Trump said the U.S. would strike Iranian power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened within 48 hours, Trump told NewsNation:

“Ok, let’s see whether or not he’s right.”