Senator: Trump has no plans for large-scale ground operation in Iran

Republican Senator Tom Cotton said on March 1 that President Donald Trump does not intend to deploy a large-scale U.S. ground force inside Iran, despite ongoing military operations targeting the country.

Speaking on Face the Nation on CBS News, Cotton — who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee — outlined what he described as the administration’s current military strategy.

"The president has been clear that what we should expect to see is an extended air and naval campaign that's designed not only to continue to set back Iran's nuclear ambitions, but most importantly, to destroy its vast missile arsenal," Cotton said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

Cotton said one risk of the non-ground war that the U.S. and Israel are waging is that an aircraft could be shot down, and "the president would never leave a pilot behind." 

"So, no doubt, we have combat search and rescue assets in the region that are prepared to go in and extract any type of downed pilot," Cotton said. "But barring that kind of unusual circumstance, Margaret, the president has no plan for any kind of large-scale ground force inside of Iran."