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EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Will Trump Risk Ground Troops in Iran?

EA on International Outlets: US-Israel War — Trump’s Deception About “Talks” With Iran

UPDATES: US-Israel War on Iran, Day 30 — Trump Wobbles Again

UPDATE 1101 GMT:

Human Rights Watch assesses that Iran has “repeatedly” used cluster munitions, delivered by ballistic missiles, in attacks on Israel during the US-Israeli War.

At least four civilians have been killed in the airstrikes. The use of cluster bombs is a violation of international humanitarian law.

“Iran’s use of cluster munitions in populated areas in Israel pose a foreseeable and long-lasting danger to civilians,” said HRW researcher Patrick Thompson. “Cluster munition bomblets are dispersed over a wide area, making them unlawfully indiscriminate in violation of the laws of war.”

UPDATE 0758 GMT:

Amid Donald Trump’s confusing, sometimes contradictory statements, US officials say he is considering an operation to seize almost 1,000 pounds of uranium in Iran.

US forces would have to be inside the country for days or longer, the officials note.

They say Trump has not made a final decision but is open to the idea.

UPDATE 0745 GMT:

On the first day of the US-Israel War, a newly-developed American-made ballistic missile hit a sports hall and elementary school in southern Iran.

An investigation by weapons experts and The New York Times established that the PrSM missile apparently missed a nearby military base. Local officials the strike and others on the city of Lamerd killed at least 21 people.

On the same day, February 28, a US Tomahawk cruise missile struck a primary school in the city of Minab, several hundred miles away. At least 175 people were killed.

The PrSM, which can fly more than twice as far as any other US missile, completed prototype testing last year. In early March, the head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, confirmed that the PrSM had been used in combat for the first time.

The school in Lamerd was being used by a girls’ volleyball team at the time of the strike. Iranian media reported the killing of squad members.

Photos and videos show the premises were regularly used by children. The sports hall has been publicly identified as a civilian-use facility for years on digital mapping platforms.

Ground-level and satellite images after the PrSM strike show the sports hall with scorch marks and a partly collapsed roof. Footage from inside the school has blown-out windows, fire damage, and splotches of blood.

UPDATE 0734 GMT:

The UN has suffered its first fatality in Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.

An Indonesian peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at a UN position near the village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Another peacekeeper was critically injured.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Frustrated that Iran’s regime has not surrendered, Donald Trump sank into a series of incoherent, sometimes false statements about the US-Israel War on Sunday.

Amid reports that the Pentagon has planned for ground operations which would requires weeks and perhaps months, Trump blustered that US forces could seized Kharg Island, the Persian Gulf hub for more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

He said his “preference would be to take the oil”, but then he wobbled:

To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: “Why are you doing that?”…

Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options. It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.

He added, “I don’t think they have any defense. We could take it very easily.”

Having threatened military escalation, Trump switched course and lied that direct and indirect US talks with Iran are making good progress.

We’ve got about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and another couple of thousand targets to go. A deal could be made fairly quickly….

They’re gonna give up nuclear weapons. They’re gonna give us the nuclear dust. They’re gonna do everything that we want to do.

The Trump camp has exchanged messages via third parties with Iran, but there is no evidence that the regime has accepted direct talks.

Instead, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — whom the Trumpists wanted to promote as an Iranian leader accepting their 15-point ultimatum — said Iranian forces are “waiting” for US ground troops to arrive so they could “rain fire upon them”.

“We are in a major world war, and we must prepare ourselves for the tortuous and difficult path ahead of us until we reach the summit,” he posted. “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”

But Trump praised Ghalibaf and other Iranian leaders as “very reasonable” before backing away, “I think we’ll make a deal with them, I’m pretty sure, but it’s possible we won’t.”

After talks with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey in Islamabad on Sunday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke of preparations for “meaningful talks” in the coming days. However, there was no sign of Iranian acceptance.

Confronted with Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump wavered over the possibility of accepting a long-term system with Tehran in charge.

He blustered, in an apparent reference to Iran allowing Pakistan-flagged tankers passage through the Strait:

They gave us 10. Now they’re giving 20 and the 20 have already started and they’re going right up the middle of the Strait.

[Ghalibaf is] the one who authorized the ships to me. Remember I said they’re giving me a present? And everyone said: “What’s the present? Bullshit.”

When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut, and the negotiations are going very well.