❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Islamic Republic of Iran appears to be attempting to goad U.S. President Donald J. Trump into launching a politically unpopular and deadly ground invasion, claiming its military is prepared to repel a ground invasion by American troops.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, President Donald J. Trump, the U.S. military, and Ali Larijani.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Araghchi’s comments were made on Thursday, March 5, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We are waiting for them. Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.” — Abbas Araghchi
🎯IMPACT: Earlier this week, President Trump stopped short of ruling out the deployment of American boots on the ground as joint U.S.-Israeli strikes continue to increase against Iranian military and political targets.
The Islamic Republic of Iran appears to be attempting to goad U.S. President Donald J. Trump into launching a politically unpopular and deadly ground invasion, claiming its military is prepared to repel a ground invasion by American troops. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Thursday, “We are waiting for them. Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”
Earlier this week, President Trump refused to rule out American “boots on the ground” as joint U.S.-Israeli strikes continue to increase against Iranian military and political targets. The U.S. military action, dubbed Operation Epic Fury and launched on February 28, 2026, has already resulted in the deaths of dozens of top Iranian political and military officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Araghchi contradicted claims made by Trump that Iran had sought a ceasefire and negotiations to end hostilities, stating, “We didn’t ask for a ceasefire even last time.” This assertion was echoed by Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, who wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), “We will not negotiate with the United States.”
“The fact is that we don’t have any positive experience of negotiating with the United States. You know, especially with this administration. We negotiated twice last year and this year, and then in the middle of negotiations, they attacked us,” Araghchi said. “So we see no reason why we should engage once again with those who have, who are not honest in negotiation, and they don’t and do not enter into negotiation in good faith.”
However, on Friday, President Trump announced that the United States will only accept “unconditional surrender” from the Islamic Republic of Iran, stating that there will be “no deal” to end the conflict with the Islamist regime on any other grounds.
On Thursday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told The National Pulse that concerns that the war against Iran is expanding across the Middle East are unfounded. “What Iran is doing by attacking allied countries that would otherwise want to stay out of this” is pulling them “into the American orbit,” Hegseth said.
“So, now you’ve got UAE and Qatar and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and others saying, ‘Hey, we’re with you, we’ll shoot with you, we’ll fly with you, we’ll defend you,” he explained, saying Iran’s actions were “actually firming up the unity of the resistance” to its regime.
“So this idea that [the war is] expanding, no, it’s actually simplifying in a number of ways, exactly what we need to achieve,” the War Secretary added.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.