About 65% of Americans believe that President Donald Trump will order US troops to engage in a large-scale ground war in Iran, and only 7% support this idea, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
The three-day poll showed that overall support for Trump among the American public remained almost unchanged at 40%, up one percentage point from a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in the hours immediately after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
The new poll, which surveyed 1,545 US adults nationwide, has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points, notes Reuters.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Monday that the United States' goals in the war against Iran have not changed since the strikes began on February 28, Reuters reported, BTA reports.
So far, the United States has struck 7,000 targets in Iran and has hit more than 40 Iranian minelaying vessels and 11 submarines.
Hegseth told reporters that the goals set directly by President Donald Trump remain the same as they were on the first day. He stressed that these are not the goals that the media writes about or that Iran claims, nor are they new goals, but the original goals that remain unchanged and are being implemented as planned. He took several minutes to criticize the media in his speech.
Hegseth said the goals include destroying Iran's missile sites, defense industrial base and naval forces, as well as preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Reuters reported yesterday that President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of US troops to bolster operations in the Middle East, as the US military prepares for possible next steps in the campaign against Iran.
Among the options being considered is ensuring the safe passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would be carried out primarily by the air force and navy. According to Reuters sources, such an operation could also include the deployment of US troops along the coast of Iran.
At the same briefing, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Kaine, said that the US military was on track to achieve its goals and that the US was striking deeper into Iranian territory.
At the same time, Kaine acknowledged that Iran still had some missile potential, but noted that the country had entered the conflict with a large number of weapons.
Iranian attacks on energy infrastructure, in response to Israeli strikes on gas facilities, led to the most serious escalation in the almost three-week war, causing gas prices to rise sharply and oil prices to rise further today.