The Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, according to Reuters, citing two sources familiar with the matter, at a time when the Donald Trump administration is seeking a possible deal with Iran to end the conflict in the region. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not specify the exact location of the deployment or the arrival date of the troops, who are currently stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, while the US military referred comments to the White House, which stressed that any official announcement would come from the Pentagon.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said the president always has all military options available, while one of the sources stressed that no decision has yet been made to send troops to Iran, but such a move would increase the capabilities for possible future operations. According to reports, this is a deployment of about 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers, adding to existing American forces in the region, including thousands of Marines and sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer and accompanying units, while the Wall Street Journal reported that an official order is expected within hours. Before this development, about 50,000 American troops were in the Middle East, while according to an American official, 13 soldiers have been killed and 290 have been wounded in the conflict.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew his threat to bomb Iranian energy facilities, saying he had had “productive” talks with Tehran, although the Iranian side denied these claims. An Iranian military spokesman declared that “the US is negotiating with itself”, while Ebrahim Zolfaghari mocked the claims of negotiations, stressing that regional stability, according to him, depends on the Iranian armed forces.
