The China Mail - Iran parliament speaker says US planning ground attack

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's comments come after more than a month of aerial bombardment of Iran by US and Israeli forces and ahead of talks between key regional players on Monday.

The war has escalated into a regional conflagration as Iran has retaliated with attacks on Gulf states, sending energy markets into a tailspin and threatening the world economy.

"The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack," Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.

"Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all," he added.

The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship carrying around 3,500 Marines and sailors, arrived in the Middle East on Friday.

The Washington Post reported the Pentagon was preparing plans for weeks of ground operations -- potentially including raids on Kharg Island and sites near the Strait of Hormuz -- though US President Donald Trump has yet to approve any deployment.

Iran says it has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane which accounted for a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade, to hostile shipping.

Trump has repeatedly spoken of diplomatic contacts with Iran, although these claims has been denied by Tehran.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff has said a US-Iran meeting could take place soon, and promoted a 15-point plan that Washington says "could solve it all".

Pakistan, acting as a go-between for Washington and Tehran, will host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad on Monday for talks on the crisis.

- 'All of Tehran was shaking' -

In Tehran, two blasts shook the city early Sunday, an AFP journalist said, although it was not clear what was targeted.

The Qatari news channel Al Araby said an Israeli missile hit the building housing its office in the city.

Footage from inside the office showed broken windows and shattered glass. Outside, images showed the streets covered in debris and damage to surrounding buildings.

"I miss a peaceful night's sleep," an artist in Tehran told AFP, saying night-time strikes were "so intense it felt like all of Tehran was shaking".

Farzaneh, a 62-year-old woman in Iran's western city of Ahvaz contacted by AFP from Paris, said: "People wake up each day worried about an uncertain future."

"War in today's world and even in the future is not something that can be considered a real solution to problems. No one truly desires war," she said.

Iranian state media reported that US-Israeli strikes also hit a quay in the port city of Bandar Khamir, near the Strait of Hormuz.

Ghalibaf on Sunday called for unity among Iranians, saying the country was in "a major global war" that was "at its most critical stage".

"We are certain that we can punish the United States, make it regret attacking Iran, and firmly secure our legitimate rights," he said.

- Strikes on industry in Gulf -

Iran fired a volley of missiles and drones at plants belonging to two of the world's largest aluminium producers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the Revolutionary Guards said Sunday, targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) said an Iranian attack wounded six and caused significant damage to its plant, while Bahraini state media said two Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) employees were injured in a second attack.

As the spectre of a widening conflict grew, Yemen's Houthis on Saturday claimed their first attack of the war, firing "a barrage of cruise missiles and drones" at strategic sites in Israel.

The attacks raised concern about the war spreading to the Red Sea, with Saudi Arabia rerouting much of its oil exports there to avoid Hormuz.

During Israel's recent war in Gaza, the Houthis, claiming solidarity with the Palestinians, attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, forcing companies to take costly detours.

Iran's neighbour Iraq too has increasingly been drawn into the conflict.

In Syria, authorities said Sunday they had repelled a drone attack from Iraq targeting a US military base, which comes after a series of strikes that have been claimed by pro-Tehran Iraqi groups.

- Three journalists killed -

On another front, Israeli attacks have continued in Lebanon, which was drawn into the war when Tehran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on March 2.

On Saturday, the Israeli military killed three journalists in the south.

Lebanese authorities, including President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, condemned the killings as war crimes.

Israel also carried out raids in southern Lebanon that killed nine paramedics, the health ministry in Beirut said.

On Sunday the Israeli army announced the death in combat of a soldier in south Lebanon.

At a vocational institute north of Beirut, displaced mother Nasima Ismail signed up her children for services despite few resources as the war interrupts education for hundreds of thousands of students.

"I want them to complete their education, even if we are left with nothing," she said.

"I wish them days better than ours."

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C.Fong--ThChM