Iran threatens world tourism sites; Trump weighing several options for U.S. troops inside Iran

A senior official in the Iranian armed forces has warned the country's enemies won't be safe in tourist centers around the world.

Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, said that the high numbers of Iranian officials being killed in American and Israeli strikes “is not a sign of the enemy’s strength; rather, it stems from desperation, helplessness and malice.”

Iranian officials “live with the people and among the people,” he said.

Iranian officials, Shekarchi continued in a statement, were not like those in Israel or the U.S. who “have hidden underground and in shelters or use civilians as human shields.”

Iran, he said, was “monitoring your cowardly officials and commanders, your malicious pilots and soldiers” and “even recreational areas, resorts and tourist centers around the world will not be safe for you.”

Trump weighing several options for U.S. troops inside Iran

President Trump is weighing whether to send possibly thousands of U.S. troops into Iran as he looks for a way to achieve some of his key goals and end the war, according to the two current U.S. officials, two former U.S. officials and another person familiar with the discussions.

Any deployment of ground troops into Iran would carry increased risk but also a potential strategic value of hastening an end to the war. Trump’s considerations come as he faces a looming global energy crisis, increasing political backlash at home from some of his own supporters, and emerging disagreements between the U.S. and its Middle East allies over the direction of the war.

There are several options under discussion, the sources said. One would be aimed at freeing up passage in the Strait of Hormuz by deploying troops to Iranian ports or small islands in the Persian Gulf to mitigate the threat to vessels, the sources said. Others include an operation to retrieve Iran’s highly enriched uranium or using troops to seize Iranian oil facilities to cut off a key financial lifeline and attempt to extract concessions from the regime, the sources said.

They said none of the options that are being seriously considered are expected to involve large-scale deployments like those in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The scale and duration of any deployment of U.S. troops inside of Iran would depend on the type of operation, but it could range from hundreds of specialized forces operating on the ground for a number of hours,

Currently the U.S. has about 50,000 troops deployed in the Middle East. The U.S. has so far conducted the war in Iran from the air and sea. An additional several thousand Marines are expected to arrive in the region in coming days, NBC News has reported. The U.S. also is accelerating the deployment of thousands more Marines and sailors to the Middle East, according to two people familiar with the decision.

Thirteen U.S. service members have died since the war began on Feb. 28.

What to know

• Iran exchanged strikes with Israel as the country marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and launched a new wave of attacks on energy sites across the Gulf. The attacks on oil and gas facilities have sent global prices soaring.

• An Iranian official says that 16 commercial and civilian cargo ships were set on fire after an American-Israeli strike on two of its ports on the Persian Gulf.

• Stock market falls and oil prices spike as Iran war weighs heavily on market sentiment

• More U.S. troops began to make their way to the Middle East this morning after Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan condemned Iran’s attacks on his country. The USS Boxer set off from San Diego and is set to carry at least 2,200 Marines, according to two people familiar with the decision. It is leaving sooner than expected, they said

• President Trump said he doesn’t want a ceasefire with Iran, and that the U.S. has already “won” the war from a military standpoint.

• The conflict in the Middle East risks causing record levels of hunger as ripple effects from the conflict are felt globally, the World Food Program has warned in a new report.

• DEATH TOLL: More than 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East. In Iran, Israeli and American strikes have killed more than 1,200 people, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. At least 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, and 13 have died in Israel. Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed, and two more died of noncombat causes. (Source: NBC News)