US Department of Defense is considering a US military request to send about 5.000 additional troops to the Middle East amid increasing tensions with Iran.
REQUEST HAD BEEN MADE BY US CENTRAL COMMAND
Tehran and Washington have this month been escalating rhetoric against each other, following US President Donald Trump’s decision to try to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero and beef up the US military presence in the Gulf in response to what he said were Iranian threats.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the request had been made by US Central Command, but added that it was not clear whether the Pentagon would approve the request.
The Pentagon regularly receives – and declines – requests for additional resources from US combatant commands throughout the world. One of the officials said the requested troops would be defensive in nature. This appeared to be the latest request for additional resources in the face of what US officials have said are credible threats from Iran against US forces and American interests in the Middle East.
US has not publicly shown any evidence of what the specific intelligence on the Iranian threat is.