Illustrative image. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Samuel Ruiz)
The administration of President Donald Trump is considering sending thousands more United States troops to the Middle East as the war against Iran, Reuters reported on March 19.
A U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter told the news agency that the additional deployments could help provide Trump with additional options as he weighs expanding American operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.
The U.S. troops could be sent to help oil tankers move safely through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the report. The sources noted that securing the waterway could mean sending U.S. troops to Iran’s shoreline.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps previously warned that any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz would be attacked, and the waterway — where roughly 20% of the world’s oil production passes daily — has effectively been closed since the start of the American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic, with many vessels hit by Iranian fire there and in nearby waters.
The Trump administration has also weighed whether to send troops to Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran’s oil exports. It would be a risky operation, sources said, because Iran can hit the island with missiles and drones.
U.S. strikes hit military targets on the island on March 13 and Trump has threatened to also strike its critical oil infrastructure. This didn’t deter Iran, however.
A third option is deploying U.S. forces to take control of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, according to one of the sources who spoke.
According to Reuters, the sources did not believe a deployment of ground forces anywhere in Iran was imminent but declined to discuss specifics of U.S. operational planning.
“There has been no decision to send ground troops at this time, but President Trump wisely keeps all options at his disposal,” the U.S. official told the news agency.
“The president is focused on achieving all of the defined objectives of Operation Epic Fury: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capacity, annihilate their navy, ensure their terrorist proxies cannot destabilize the region, and guarantee that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon,” they added.
The sources who spoke with Reuters noted that discussions on U.S. reinforcements go beyond the arrival of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) next week in the Middle East, which includes more than 2,200 Marines.
The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli carrying the unit was spotted near the Malacca Strait off Singapore just a day earlier, according to CNN.
An MEU consists of four elements: command, ground combat, air combat and logistics combat. Such units are typically deployed for evacuations and amphibious operations that require ship-to-shore movements, like raids and assaults. They also have ground and aviation combat components, and some units are trained for special operations.
The Reuters report is not surprising, especially that it came after the deployment of the 31st MEU became known. It was clear that the U.S. will need more than just 2,200 marines for any ground operation against Iran.
The American-Israeli on Iran — which has been so far limited to an aerial campaign — has inflicted some heavy losses on Iran, but the Islamic Republic continues to launch drones and missiles every day, and it has not yet backed down from its political position, especially on the nuclear issue. The aerial campaign has failed miserably in this regard.
From the start, the Trump administration refused to rule out the possibility of ground operations in Iran, and now it appears to be preparing for such a move.
The price could be extremely high, however. The death of 13 U.S. troops has already caused some serious backlash in the U.S., and any ground operation in the Islamic Republic is guaranteed to result in more casualties, way more, as the Iranians will have the advantage in almost every aspect.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
for all of dads and moms that love to stay home to take care of their loved ones, or rest of people on the search for an opportunity to pull in some extra income for their family month after month let me share a remarkable opportunity to explore.
here →→→→→→ https://psee.io/8jqu9r
make sure there’s a body bag and a big supply of diapers for each amerikunt. “we’re just expendable goyim. we’re happy to die for shitrael.”