The U.S. Is Planning To Escalate The War Against Iran. Officials Reportedly Warn The Army Is Not Fully Ready

Expanded U.S. operations against Iran could be hampered by reduced stockpiles and damage sustained by bases and troops in the region, according to a new report.

Speaking to The Washington Post, a U.S. official said that Washington is “planning for a wider war,” with the Pentagon increasing the amount of military aircraft in the region.

However, the official noted that they could be limited by the mentioned factors, as well as troops being potentially unprepared for eventual ground operations inside Iran.

A U.S. service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday, taking the death toll in the war with Iran to 17, according to the U.S. Central Command. More than 400 troops have been wounded.

Another attack against an American base in Jordan killed two service member, leading the U.S. to launch airstrikes on Sunday targeting Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The US has targeted bridges, electrical facilities and water desalination plants in Iran, leaving 10,000 without water in the country. Tehran’s has retaliated by hitting power and desalination plants in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Middle East.

The U.S. Central Command said late Sunday it had completed a ninth consecutive night of strikes against Iran, targeting “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further diminish Iran’s ability to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”

Tehran has also warned of further escalation. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, on his end, has issued a warning threatening “unforgettable lessons” if Washington continues its attacks on the Islamic Republic. Iran’s joint military command said that U.S. “covetousness, bullying, totalitarianism or brutality” would meet with a “devastating response.”

Elsewhere, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, allies of Iran, declared a maritime embargo of Saudi Arabia on Monday.

The group said in a document that the decision is based on the “equation of ‘an eye for an eye'” and will “respond to all escalation with all escalation, thus solidifying this equation.”

It went on to threaten Riyadh further, saying it is ready “for all options, and any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy through all escalation will be met with a comprehensive and decisive escalation by Allah’s will and power.”

CNBC noted that Saudi Arabia has been diverting millions of barrels of oil per day from the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea as a result of the war between the U.S. and Iran. The Houthis preventing Riyadh from doing so would further exacerbate the disruption taking place in oil markets.