Israel intensifies Iran strikes as Houthis enter conflict; US prepares ground ops

One month into a war that has reshaped the Middle East, Israel intensified its assault on Iran's military infrastructure while new combatants entered the fray and the United States prepared to put boots on the ground. On Saturday, March 28, Israeli warplanes struck Iran's naval weapons organization—the facility responsible for designing and building submarines, surface ships, drones, and engines—in what military officials said was part of a broader campaign to dismantle Tehran's military capabilities piece by piece. The same night, explosions rocked Tehran as Israeli jets completed what they described as a "wide wave of attacks" against dozens of regime targets across the capital. A military spokesman promised that within days, Israel would have struck all critical components of Iran's defense industry.

The escalation came as Iran's threats grew more brazen and more specific. The Revolutionary Guard announced that all Israeli universities and American educational institutions in the region were now legitimate targets—a direct response to US and Israeli bombardment of Iranian universities, including the Science and Technology University in Tehran and the Technological University in Isfahan. The Guard demanded that the US government officially condemn the attacks on Iranian schools by Monday noon, local time, or face strikes on American campuses. They warned all workers, professors, and students at US universities in the region to stay at least one kilometer away from their institutions.

But the most significant development was the entry of Yemen's Houthi rebels into active combat. On Saturday, the Iran-backed militia claimed responsibility for launching missiles at Israel—their first attacks since the conflict began on February 28. Israeli air defenses intercepted the projectiles, and no casualties were reported, but the symbolic weight was enormous. The Houthis had previously stayed on the sidelines despite their close ties to Tehran. Their involvement now threatened to choke off the Red Sea, already critical to global commerce as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had effectively closed. Before the war, roughly one trillion dollars in goods passed through the Red Sea annually. Saudi Arabia had already begun rerouting its oil exports through the port of Yanbu to avoid the strait. The Houthis' entry meant that shipping corridor was now under fire from yet another direction.

The human toll continued to mount across the region. In Lebanon, where Israeli forces had been conducting a sustained offensive since early March, the death toll reached 1,189, with 3,427 wounded. Among the dead were 124 children. On Saturday alone, nine healthcare workers were killed in five separate Israeli strikes on medical facilities in southern Lebanon. Three journalists—Al Shouaib from the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar channel, Fatima Fatouni from the Iran-aligned Al Mayadeen, and her brother, a cameraman—died in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in Jezzine. In Israel, a missile from Yemen struck the town of Eshtaol, near Jerusalem, wounding 19 people and damaging homes. Investigators were examining why air defenses detected but failed to intercept the projectile.

Meanwhile, the United States was preparing for a deeper commitment. The Pentagon was planning ground operations in Iran—not a full-scale invasion, officials stressed, but raids by special forces and other troops lasting several weeks. The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship carrying roughly 3,500 Marines, was en route to the region. An additional 2,500 Marines were traveling to the Middle East, and at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, trained to seize airfields and secure territory in hostile terrain, had been ordered to deploy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said publicly that Washington could achieve its objectives without ground troops, yet the military buildup told a different story. President Trump had not yet approved the Pentagon's full operational plans, but the machinery was in motion.

Regional powers scrambled to manage the chaos. Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain all reported intercepting waves of Iranian missiles and drones. Kuwait's airport sustained significant damage to its radar infrastructure from drone strikes. Pakistan, seeking to position itself as a mediator, allowed 20 Pakistani commercial vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz—a gesture it called a step toward peace. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced that two ships would pass through daily, a small but symbolic reopening of a chokepoint that had been effectively sealed since late February. Pakistan was also hosting talks between the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt to discuss de-escalation.

Back in Iran, the regime was consolidating control through a combination of force and spectacle. The government had organized more than 850 public demonstrations in support of the Islamic Republic since the war began, while simultaneously arresting at least 1,400 people for dissent. Internet access remained cut off—672 hours into a nationwide blackout that began on February 28. Yet analysts noted that despite a month of intense American and Israeli air campaigns that had killed Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and decapitated much of the military command structure, the regime had not fractured. There were no mass defections, no internal collapse. The message circulating in Iran, according to conflict monitoring organizations, was that the country was winning. As the calendar turned toward the end of March, the war showed no signs of slowing. It was only deepening.