• Energy infrastructure attacked as Israel claims ‘large wave of strikes’ on Isfahan, other areas
• Iran says projectile hit its Bushehr nuclear power plant
• Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport struck by drones
• 498 schools, 281 medical facilities among over 82,000 civilian structures targeted in Iran
WASHINGTON / TEHRAN: The United States is planning to send some 3,000 soldiers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East to support operations against Iran, US media reported on Tuesday.
They would join thousands of Marines due to arrive in the Middle East by Friday, the latest deadline set by President Donald Trump for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Wall Street Journal.
No decision has been made to put troops on the ground, WSJ reported, citing two US officials who said a written order on the deployment was expected in coming hours.
However, the deployments mean units of the most battle-ready US ground troops will soon be in the region.
The 82nd Airborne Division can deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours and specialises in “forcible entry parachute assaults” that clear the way for follow-on military action, according to its website.
The New York Times was the first to report on Monday that senior military officials were weighing a possible deployment of a combat brigade from the 82nd Airborne and some of its planning and logistics staff to the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran.
Those soldiers or members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit already en route “could be used to seize Kharg Island,” Iran’s oil export hub, NYT said.
“The movement of the 82nd opens the door for President Trump to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force, seize Iran’s strategic islands or coastline or launch a mission to capture the regime’s highly enriched uranium should he choose to do so,” WSJ reported.
Trump seems to be pressing on with military operations, even as he examines “newfound” diplomatic options, the White House said on Tuesday, after the US president announced talks with Tehran, and Pakistan emerged as a possible mediator.
Strikes in Isfahan
Israel said it had conducted a large number of airstrikes in several areas of Iran, including the central city of Isfahan, AFP reported.
“The IDF has completed a large wave of strikes in Isfahan,” the military said in a statement, adding that it had launched a “wide-scale wave of strikes.. in several areas in Iran”.
Meanwhile, first responders said six people were injured in Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, where police reported several impact sites after the military warned of incoming missile fire from Iran, reported Reuters.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said “six people were lightly injured at four different sites” and released videos showing a partially gutted building and vehicles on fire.
On the other hand, Iran said it targeted aircraft near Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport as its military carried out drone attacks targeting infrastructure at the airport and in the Haifa area, Al Jazeera reported.
Its correspondents on the ground were reporting that the military said it had been attacking refuelling aircraft at the airport since early morning using drones, and claimed it also targeted military and aerospace industrial sites near the airport, as well as in Haifa.
Bushehr plant struck
Iran’s atomic energy organisation accused the US and Israel on Tuesday of attacking its Bushehr nuclear power plant, saying a projectile had landed within its compound but caused no damage.
“The American-Zionist enemy has attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant site again,” the organisation said in a statement, adding that “a projectile hit inside the enclosure of the Bushehr power plant”.
“Initial reports indicate this incident did not cause any financial or technical damage, or human casualty, and the various areas of the power plant are unharmed.
Separately, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said that US-Israeli strikes on the country have targeted 17 organisation centres since the start of the war, Al Jazeera reported. The IRCS added that 94 ambulances and a relief vehicle affiliated to them had also been targeted.
Attacks on Iran by the US and Israel also damaged 498 schools and 281 medical facilities among more than 82,000 civilian structures that were damaged or destroyed, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society. The damaged structures include 62,000 homes, 281 medical centres, hospitals and pharmacies.
Earlier, Iranian media reported US-Israeli warplanes had struck two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after Trump stepped back from his threat to attack energy sites, citing negotiations to end the war.
Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2026
