Iran's increasingly infamous Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted a pointed taunt on X on March 31, sharing footage showing a US Marine being physically injured and removed from a recent Washington alongside a report that Israel would not send ground troops to Iran.

Ghalibaf posted the video with the hashtag "#Israelfirst" and quoted a post from The Kobeissi Letter citing Israel's Channel 12 as reporting that Israeli soldiers would not participate in any US ground operation in Iran.

The video shows a Marine veteran protesting the war in Iran being forcibly removed from a Senate hearing on March 6. Senator Tim Sheehy, Republican of Montana, joined the Capitol Police in removing the protester, Brian McGinnis, who said that his arm was broken during the struggle.

Ghalibaf's post appears designed to drive a wedge between Washington and Tel Aviv, suggesting that American troops would bear the burden of any ground war alone while Israel stays out of the fighting.

The "#Israelfirst" hashtag plays directly into domestic US political tensions over the relationship between the two allies and has been increasingly popular on social media in the run up to the suspected American invasion of Iran. 

The taunt came as The Washington Post reported on March 29 that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of limited ground operations in Iran, with some 3,500 US troops arriving in the region alongside plans to deploy soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the preparations were intended to give the president "maximum optionality," but remained vague on details.

Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guard general and mayor of Tehran, has emerged as one of Iran's most prominent wartime voices.

He warned on March 29 that Iranian forces were "waiting for American soldiers to enter on the ground" and accused Washington of secretly planning a ground invasion while publicly pushing for negotiations, IRNA reported.

Iran's Ministry of Health has reported 2,076 people killed since the war began on February 28, including 216 children. Oil prices stood at around $115 a barrel on March 31, up nearly 60% since the start of the conflict.