India, July 15 -- US President Donald Trump told US broadcaster Fox News in an interview on Tuesday that he would consider a ground campaign in Iran "if I thought it was appropriate," adding, "Sometimes you need a ground campaign. But we have other people who will do the ground campaign for us."

The comment, made as US forces carried out their fourth consecutive day of airstrikes on Iranian targets, was casual in delivery but staggering in implication, representing the most explicit public acknowledgement yet that a ground war in Iran is at least conceptually on the table.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was blunt in his response.

"We are waiting for them," he told NBC network, separately, adding, "We are confident that we can ...