With U.S. casualties mounting amid renewed attacks on American military installations from Iran’s Islamist regime, some officials within the Trump administration are reportedly pushing for kickstarting a regime change in Tehran through supporting Kurdish forces.

Tuesday saw the Islamist regime continue to target U.S. assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan as well as a civilian vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The increase in attacks has led to the deaths of at least three U.S. servicemembers in recent weeks, with outlets reporting that almost 100 troops have been injured so far this month. The Pentagon stated that most of the injuries have not been serious, with 96% having reported back to duty.

In response to Iran’s continued aggression, U.S. Central Command announced Monday that American forces have “struck Iranian military command centers, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defense systems to degrade Iran’s ability to continue attacking commercial vessels flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.” CENTCOM further noted that since early May, U.S. forces “have helped facilitate the transit of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil.”

Meanwhile, President Trump remarked Tuesday that the U.S. is continuing to keep a close eye on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and plans to keep a tight lid on any attempts the regime might make to resurrect its devastated program. After reports surfaced that Iran may have transported nuclear centrifuges to an underground enrichment site known as Pickaxe Mountain, the president responded that the U.S. would strike the site “probably pretty soon.” The U.S. has claimed that the regime cannot access its enriched nuclear materials because they are buried deep underground underneath rubble after American forces struck the sites, which are being continually monitored.

At the same time, a possible new front in the war materialized Monday after the Yemen-based Houthi terrorist group threatened to initiate a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the country’s “aggressive” behavior, with the terrorist group claiming that Riyadh had bombed Sanaa International Airport.

With signs that the conflict is slipping toward a quagmire, some officials within the Trump administration are reportedly advocating for more direct action to topple the Iranian regime by reconsidering a previously rejected option to further arm Kurdish forces who are opposed to the ayatollahs that are stationed in parts of northwestern Iran and northern Iraq.

Experts like Brigadier General (Ret.) John Teichert, the former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for the Air Force for International Affairs, say that significant use of force is the only way to resolve the conflict. “[W]e’ve got to use a language that they understand in Tehran, which is strength, capability, will, and resolve and return to major kinetic operations,” he contended during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Monday. “The ceasefire period has been a disaster. Iran has been enticed by our weakness, and now is the time to return to a language they actually understand.”

Teichert went on to highlight the U.S. strategy behind its recent strikes on ports, energy infrastructure, and bridges in Iran.

“There [are] two primary purposes to the striking of bridges and logistics facilities in the area around the Strait of Hormuz,” he explained. “Number one, it is isolating the Iranian forces in that area so that it will be easier for us to impose our will and stop them from projecting power into the region and into the strait. And number two, it gives the president the option of a ground invasion in that area. It’s preparation of the battlefield, and what that means is that because we’re isolating their forces and cutting off supplies, it would make it easier and safer for us to undertake a ground invasion of operationally significant areas.” Teichert also pushed for the striking of Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export hub, which he argued would “irreversibly and irreparably strangle the regime.”

The former brigadier general further insisted that arming and supporting a Kurdish invading force into Iran could accelerate a regime change within Iran. “[T]here was actually another threat from the Iranian regime today against the Kurds getting involved, and that’s another tell that they’re afraid that if there is some sort of an opposition force that can either be a catalyst for regime change or the nucleus around which we could see regime change supported by American air power, then that could threaten the regime.”

“There’s about 40 million Kurdish people in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran,” Teichert explained. “I’ve worked directly with [them] in the northern part of Iraq when I was a senior defense official to Baghdad. … [T]hey are a powerful, capable Western fighting force, and at least according to some pretty good intelligence, they were on the verge during the six weeks of active combat operations, of starting to attack against the regime in Iran and starting to build out from the Iraqi enclave of the Kurds into northwest Iran. And apparently, a Turkish conversation with our president caused us to hold them back. But I have seen them in action, and they are massively capable and we have armed them sufficiently.”

While acknowledging that the U.S.’s lack of support has “burned” the Kurds in the past, Teichert emphasized that empowering them could turn the tide. “If we provided them the top cover of air power … coupled with a real threat of a ground invasion, not by Americans, not by Israelis, but by the Kurds, if they trust us, would be sufficient to potentially create the wave of what we would need to see the regime flip.”