WASHINGTON ( WNAM MONITORING): The United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three US officials told Reuters on Friday, as the US-Israeli war on Iran reached the three-week mark.
No decision had been made to send troops into Iran itself, the officials told Reuters, but they will build up the capacity for future operations in the region.
The deployments of the USS Boxer, along with its Marine Expeditionary Unit and accompanying warship, come as Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of US troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not putting troops “anywhere,” but that if he were to do so, he would not tell journalists.
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not say what the role of the additional troops would be.
One of the officials said the troops were departing the West Coast of the United States about three weeks ahead of schedule.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The additional deployments will add to the 50,000 US troops already in the Middle East and would bring two Marine Expeditionary Units to the region.
The units, usually comprised of 2,500 Marines, can be used for a number of reasons, including carrying out strikes using the aircraft on board the ships, or being deployed on land.
Sources had previously said the US military was preparing for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, which began on February 28.
Those options, Reuters has reported, include securing the Strait of Hormuz, potentially by deploying US forces to Iran’s shoreline.
The Trump administration has also discussed options to send ground forces to Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, Reuters has reported.
Any use of US ground troops — even for a limited mission — could pose significant political risks for Trump, given low support among the American public for the Iran campaign and Trump’s own pre-election promises to avoid entangling the US in new Middle East conflicts.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Thursday found that some 65 percent of Americans believe Trump will order troops into a large-scale ground war in Iran and just 7 percent support that idea.
Trump calls NATO allies ‘cowards’
Meanwhile, Trump assailed NATO allies on Friday over their lack of support for the US-Israel campaign, calling the longtime US allies “cowards.”
“Without the USA., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” Trump said in a social media post.
Trump has been calling for major US allies and others, none of which were consulted or advised on the war, to help secure the safety of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The US president complained NATO countries did not want to join the fight against Iran, yet still complain about high oil prices.
“Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk,” he wrote.
“COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!“
Germany, Britain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Canada pledged in a joint statement on Thursday to join “appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait.”
But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made clear that this presupposed an end to combat.
French President Emmanuel Macron said after a European Union summit in Brussels that defending international law and promoting de-escalation was “the best we can do,” adding: “I have not heard anyone here express a willingness to enter this conflict — quite the opposite.”
