After reports emerged that the US was considering sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to intensify attacks on Iran, an English daily from the Islamic Republic carried a warning for America on its March 28 front page. Tehran Times featured a photo of US troops boarding a carrier with the bold headline: ‘Welcome to Hell’. Below it, the caption read: ‘US troops who step foot on Iranian soil will leave only in a coffin’.
The Tehran Times cover also coincides with confirmation from the US Central Command that around 3,500 US personnel had arrived in the conflict-hit region.
The warning message from the Iranian daily to the US comes amid President Donald Trump‘s repeated statements that he was in constant peace talks with Tehran to end the conflict. Iran has denied so far that any such talks have or are taking place with Trump.
On March 26, Trump posted on his Truth Social account that ‘Talks are ongoing’ with Iran. He also said, in another statement, that Iran gifted him a ‘present’ by allowing some Pakisani-flagged ships to pass through Hormuz Strait. He had earlier announced a pause on strikes targeting Iran’s energy sector, extending the deadline by 10 days to April 6 to allow room for negotiations beyond his previous Friday cutoff, Bloomberg reported.
Meanwhile, despite claims by Trump, the conflict in West Asia continues to intensify. Late on Saturday (March 28), the US Central Command released footage of airstrikes targeting Iranian naval vessels.
In a post on X, the command said, “For decades, Iranian naval vessels have threatened and harassed global shipping in regional waters, but those days are over.”
Iran, however, claimed that the US had suffered “heavy casualties” in strikes on two American military “hideouts” in Dubai, according to state-run Tasnim News Agency.
A spokesperson for the Central Headquarters of Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya said more than 500 US personnel were present at the locations—around 400 at one site and 100 at the other. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly identified the targets and carried out precision missile and drone strikes, inflicting significant casualties, the report said, according to ANI.
Amid the escalating tensions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned regional countries against allowing the US and Israel to use their territory for attacks on Iran, saying such actions would undermine their security and development.
“We have said many times that Iran does not carry out preemptive attacks, but we will respond strongly if our infrastructure or economic centres are targeted,” Pezeshkian said in a post on X.
“Countries in the region must not allow our enemies to wage war from their soil if they seek stability and growth,” he added.
