U.S. President Donald Trump on the 2nd (local time) said the “big wave” has not yet arrived and foreshadowed additional large-scale strikes against Iran. He signaled a willingness to endure a prolonged conflict, saying he could deploy ground troops “if necessary.” It appears he aims to raise the intensity of the attacks to completely neutralize Iran’s counterstrike capabilities, which have proven stronger than expected.

At a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House in Washington, President Trump said he had expected the Iran campaign to last “4~5 weeks,” but that he had the capability to sustain it much longer, adding, “It does not matter how long it takes. We will accomplish whatever we set out to do.” He went on, “Someone told the press, ‘The president wants to finish quickly. After 1~2 weeks he will soon get bored,’ but I never get bored.”

This was the first time President Trump had spoken in public since the U.S. military began attacking Iran on the 28th of last month.

His remarks that day were the strongest-toned message yet that he may accept escalation to achieve his objectives. He had said, “It could turn into a long war, or we could stop after 2~3 days.”

In an interview with the New York Post the same day, President Trump also said he would not rule out deploying ground troops. He said, “Other presidents say, ‘There will be no deployment of ground troops,’ but I am not afraid to deploy them.”

U.S. Ministry of National Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in the first briefing since the start of the Iran strikes that day, said that no U.S. ground troops had been stationed in Iran at present, but left room by adding, “We will not debate what we will and will not do going forward.”

For now, the likelihood that the Trump administration will actually deploy ground troops to Iran is not high. In the briefing, Secretary Hegseth emphasized, “Iran is different from Iraq. Iran is not an ‘endless war,’” making it clear he would not follow in the footsteps of predecessors who became mired in the Middle East ‘quagmire.’

However, the Trump administration message, which is changing little by little, appears to signal that the strikes on Iran could lead to a war of attrition with greater costs than initially expected. Dan Kane, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that additional forces are joining the area, including a “tactical aviation unit.”

It appears that the Trump administration chose to pour more resources into the military operation against Iran because Iran’s counterattacks were stronger than expected. Dasha Burns, a Politico White House correspondent, said on a podcast that day, “Sources I spoke with over the weekend reacted that Iran’s response is bigger, stronger, and far more extensive than expected.”

At present, Iran is using a strategy of firing obsolete missiles and low-cost suicide drones at Gulf states and U.S. bases in the region in order to deplete interceptor missiles. The Gulf states are firing missiles that cost more than $2,000,000 (about 3 billion KRW) per round to intercept $20,000 (about 30 million KRW) suicide drones from Iran. Bloomberg reported that, at the current rate of use, Qatar has only four days of interceptor missile inventory left. France 24 said, “Because of this, Gulf states may pressure the United States to halt military operations against Iran early.”