Intense preparations at the Pentagon for possible ground operations in Iran. The US is sending 2,500 Marines and an amphibious assault ship to the region
The United States is sending an additional 2,500 Marines to the Middle East aboard three warships, US military officials said on Friday, according to The New York Times and Reuters. The announcement comes as Defense Department officials have made detailed preparations for a possible deployment of ground forces to Iran, multiple sources briefed on the discussions told CBS News.
Senior military commanders have made specific requests for such an option to be prepared as US President Donald Trump considers possible moves in the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran, sources told CBS News.
“I'm not sending troops anywhere,” the US president told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. But then he added, “If I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you.”
Two of CBS' sources say the US military has also held meetings to prepare how a possible detention of Iranian soldiers and Iranian paramilitary forces would be handled if the president decides to send troops to Iran. It was also discussed where these Iranians would be sent.
2,500 US Marines in the Middle East
The Marines will deploy next month and are part of Expeditionary Unit 11, based at Camp Pendleton, California, and the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. They are expected to replace Marines who were rushed to the region last week from Japan, a military official said.
While he has said he has no plans to send troops into the field, Trump has left himself some leeway, including through mobilized forces. Marine Expeditionary Units can quickly send detachments of troops and vehicles into the field.
Maintaining such a force in the region allows commanders to quickly launch small-scale ground operations with Marine infantry. Such units can also help evacuate US citizens from the region.
Two officials said no decision had yet been made on whether to send troops to Iran, but this week a US official and three people familiar with the situation told Reuters that US troops could land on Iran's shores or on the island of Kharg, an Iranian oil export hub.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this week, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe Trump will order troops into a full-scale ground war, but only 7 percent support such a move.
Since February 28, when the United States and Israel launched an operation against Iran and Tehran responded by attacking its Gulf neighbors, more than 2,000 people have died, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
