Netanyahu Eyes Ground War in Iran as Bombs Fall on Tehran 

Israel struck Tehran on Friday with a new wave of airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year, raining bombs on the capital even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled the war may be far from over, suggesting a ground invasion could ultimately be required.

Activists on the ground in Tehran reported hearing explosions rippling across the city during the holiday, a day after Israel had pledged to hold off on further strikes against Iran's key South Pars gas field following a direct request from US President Donald Trump. The attacks nonetheless continued elsewhere, as reported by the Guardian.

At a press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu made a sweeping claim about Iran's degraded military capacity, saying it had "no ability to enrich uranium at the moment and no capability of manufacturing ballistic missiles." He vowed the war would last "as long as is necessary," adding: "We will crush them entirely, all those capabilities." But in a striking admission, the prime minister acknowledged that toppling the Iranian regime would require more than air power alone. "You can't do revolutions from the air," he said. "There has to be a ground component as well," though he offered no further elaboration on what form that might take.

Netanyahu also moved to tamp down growing tension with Washington over the scope of the war, flatly rejecting suggestions that he had "dragged" Trump into the conflict. "Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?" he told reporters. "He didn't need any convincing. I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He's the leader. I'm, you know, his ally." He did confirm, however, that Trump had asked Israel to cease strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure and said Israel was complying. "President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we're holding out," he said. He did not address whether he had warned the US before striking the South Pars gas field unilaterally, which Trump publicly distanced himself from on Wednesday, claiming Washington "knew nothing" about the attack.

Iran pushed back hard on Netanyahu's assessments. Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini, spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, insisted that missile production was continuing at full pace even under wartime conditions. "Our missile industry score is 20 and there is no concern in this regard because we are producing missiles even during war conditions, which is amazing," he said, using Iran's academic grading system to claim a perfect score. "This war must end when the shadow of war is lifted from the country," he added.

The economic shockwaves from the conflict continued to spread far beyond the battlefield. Oil prices, which briefly spiked to nearly $119 a barrel on Thursday following Iran's retaliatory strikes on Gulf energy infrastructure, settled back to around $107 a barrel on Friday after Netanyahu's pledge to pause attacks on gas facilities. Kuwait's state oil company confirmed its Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery was struck by multiple drone attacks overnight, triggering fires and forcing precautionary shutdowns. In Qatar, Iranian attacks on the Ras Laffan Industrial City — the heart of the world's largest liquefied natural gas export operation — have cut the country's LNG capacity by 17%, with repair costs that could reach $20 billion and take five years to complete, according to QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi.

Meanwhile, US Central Command announced the destruction of an Iranian ballistic missile assembly plant in Karaj, saying the facility had been used to build missiles threatening "Americans, neighboring countries, and commercial shipping." Iran's attacks also reached Israel directly, with a missile strike on oil refineries in Haifa, though Israel's energy ministry said it caused no "significant damage."

The day's violence unfolded against the grim backdrop of a war that analysts say is reshaping the entire Middle East order. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, squeezing global oil supplies and sending fuel prices surging across Asia and beyond — with Vietnam announcing an overnight 20% increase in gasoline prices. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the conflict is costing roughly half a billion dollars per day. Netanyahu's remarks about a potential "ground component" are likely to generate the most alarm, raising the specter of a land war in Iran that would dwarf anything seen in the region in modern times, with consequences that military planners and diplomats have barely begun to calculate.