Iran laying traps on Kharg as US weighs takeover of island

Iran building up its defenses on its Karg Island ahead of a potential U.S. ground operation, all as the Trump administration tries to find a diplomatic path to end the war. Sources familiar with U.S. intelligence reporting tell CNN Iran is laying traps and moving military personnel and air defenses to the tiny island that handles about 90 percent of the nation's crude exports. Sources also tell CNN the Pentagon is weighing a takeover of that island as a way to force

the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But there is concern among officials about whether risks to U.S. troops outweigh the potential gain. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt today offering little information about whether Congress would be called if even more troops are set to be deployed.

That formal authorization from Congress is not necessary because we're currently in major combat operations in Iran. The Department of War and the President, as I said, estimated about a four to six week timeline for the full completion of these military combat operations. At this moment, it's unnecessary. The president likes to maintain options at his disposal.

The White House is still pressing on to find an off-ramp to the war. Sources say the U.S. offered a 15-point list of expectations this week, with Pakistan serving as a diplomatic intermediary. An Iranian official today rejecting that proposal through state media. Iran is offering its own conditions, and the Iranian official says Tehran will not allow Trump to dictate the timing of the war's end. President Trump said Tuesday Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio

set to lead negotiations. Officials telling CNN a potential meeting this weekend could happen in Pakistan, although exact timing and location remains very fluid. The president also has said Secretary Rubio, along with Special Envoy Steve Whitkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will take part in negotiations with Iran,

although it's still unclear whether they'll travel to Pakistan for a meeting this weekend. Let's discuss all of this with retired Brigadier General Steve Anderson. General, really appreciate you coming in. I want to start with the headlines that people may have seen CNN reported about a deployment of about a thousand troops from the 82nd Airborne and just to start with the 82nd Airborne itself spent a lot of time in Fort Prague as a kid. The significance of the unit. It's a great

unit. The immediate response force that they put together, probably about a thousand troops, although some people are saying perhaps two thousand. That's probably about a battalion's worth. They can be on the ground in about 22 hours or so to fly to a place like probably Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. That would put them, if the mission is Karg Island, they'd be about 250 miles away.

Still a long shot, but still something they could do. If the mission is in the Strait of Hormuz, as some people have talked about, that could be also 250 miles away, and they could go to Ceasant Island there. But I mean, this is a light unit, okay?

So they're gonna have crew-serve weapons, they're gonna have individual weapons, they're gonna have some mortars, they're gonna have aviation support, they're gonna have Apache helicopters, you know, they're gonna probably be lifted in on Chinooks or maybe even Blackhawks. Probably take about 70 some odd Blackhawks to move a unit of that size, battalion size, into Cargallon. If they had C-130s and they wanted to do an airborne operation, which they could, take about probably 15 or so C-130s. But again, that's a very, very dangerous situation.

So it's a very capable unit, but they're small. They're probably most ideal for taking something like the airfield at Carg Island.

The buildup that we've seen also, marine units have been moving toward the region as well. I think there's a lot of questions about what it actually means, whether it's an optionality issue or whether it is there are definitely going

to be boots on the ground. Speaker Mike Johnson said this when he was asked about it, listen.

The buildup of troops is very different than boots on the ground. We don't have boots on the ground. I don't think that's the intention,

but I think Iran should watch that buildup and they need to take note of that. The distinction there, I understand it on its face, but a buildup at this level to where it's at right now, is this something that can be pulled back with no repercussions?

Absolutely, Phil. I mean, it could. I mean, it could be a bargaining chip, you know, for diplomacy, just like Speaker Johnson suggests. The MEU is going to be a very capable entity. Right now, the 31st Mu, we believe, is at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

But they still got to come through the Strait of Hormuz, if, in fact, they're going to go to something like Karg Island or one of the islands within the Strait. But I mean, I think that putting boots on the ground, obviously, would be a huge step forward. And we were talking Mission Creek big time but perhaps they're just trying to position these forces over

there in the Mideast to give them some options later on. Send a signal on some level. When it comes to the Strait of Hormuz obviously there has been no major breakthrough, there have been no naval escorts, the insurance proposal wasn't enough to trigger tankers and their personnel saying, sure, we'll take a shot at this. Is there a viable military solution to that that the U.S. would be considering right now?

I would think that probably the only viable military solution, the one that makes the most sense, is to have some kind of an escort mission. But it's going to still be fraught with peril, because you're talking about an enemy, a committed enemy. I mean, 200,000 religious fanatics. That's what the IRGC is.

These people are fighting to the death. They are not gonna go down easily. It's either kill or be killed. They know if there's any kind of a regime change, they're gone. So they're gonna continue to use

all their asymmetric capabilities. They're gonna use mines. They're gonna use missiles. They're gonna use probably some of the cruise missiles, like homemade cruise missiles. You remember, Phil, when the Moskva was sunk by the Ukrainians four years ago, that was essentially a surfboard on steroids.

They also got drones, as we all know. So they're going to use all those elements of their power, their asymmetric power, to try to interdict the strait as best they possibly can.

What is your sense right now, given what we've heard from the administration, just the scale of the military operation that's been underway, which from an air operation, successful, period, end of story. There's no question about that.

What's left, do you think? What's left is, I believe, a political solution. I mean, they've got to come up with something. Because obviously, I mean, there was never a doubt, Phil, that we were going to be able to dominate them militarily. That was never a doubt. But that's tactics. I'm talking strategy.

And we don't really have an effective strategy. And we haven't really brought about an end of the war, or even set the conditions, I think, to bring about an end of the war. Phil, you remember about a year and a half ago, maybe a year and a month ago, when President Trump was sitting in the Oval Office with Zelensky, and Trump kept yelling, you don't have the cards, you don't have the cards.

Zelensky had the cards, Trump just couldn't see them. The Iranians have the same cards. They have the will to fight. That's card number one. I mean, these are a committed, like I said, fanatical enemy. Card number two, they got the Strait of Hormuz.

They've shut it down. We got 1,500 ships that are waiting to get through there. It's going to take three months to work off that backlog. And card number three, they still have 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. That hasn't been addressed with either. So the Ukrainians, the Iranians, excuse me, have a lot of cards. They can continue to play. And, you know, the Trump administration needs to do something about all three.

Is the diplomatic pathway that's being pursued right now the best option in your view? I think it probably is. We've got to come up with a diplomatic solution, you know, because the military is not the right answer. I mean, President Trump tends to use the military because he can, because he knows when he says, hey, jump six feet or jump this high, they're going to do it. The problem is that diplomacy is much, much more difficult. They're going to have to develop some kind

of diplomatic solution. And unfortunately, the Iranians don't trust us right now, because Steve Whitgift and Jared Kushner have burned them twice, which is why they're asking to negotiate with J.D. Vance right now. So you can see their position. which is why they're asking to negotiate with J.D. Vance right now. So you can see their position.

But this war is not going to end until the Iranians say it's going to end.