As many as 5,000 additional U.S. Marines are heading for the Middle East in a possible escalation of Donald Trump’s war on Iran, according to a report.
Days after Trump appeared to suggest the conflict was “done,” the Pentagon has reportedly agreed to send additional warships and troops to bolster U.S. forces in the region.
U.S. administration officials have refused to rule out using boots on the ground to launch an all-out assault on the Iranian regime.
With the two-week air assault failing to bring down the regime and growing pressure from the president’s MAGA base for a quick win, the development suggests the administration is planning a change of strategy to take out Tehran.
The Wall Street Journal has claimed that the newly deployed troops include a Marine expeditionary unit with several warships and a potential landing force of 5,000 Marines.
It will be part of an “Amphibious Ready Group,” reports the Journal, based on interviews with three U.S. officials.
An ARG usually includes three ships—an amphibious assault ship, a dock landing ship, and a transport dock—along with helicopters and fighter jets such as the F-35B Lightning II.
The expeditionary unit provides an all-purpose Marine air-ground assault team for sea, air, and land combat.
One of the ARG’s chief uses, as explained in its official guide, is, under certain situations, to carry out “the rapid insertion of sustainable combat forces—“boots on the ground”—to underscore the nation’s commitment to an ally or to protect our National Security interests."
The USS Tripoli and its Marine detachment are said to be heading for the Middle East from their current location in Japan.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly agreed to the request from U.S. Central Command. The Pentagon has not commented on the Journal report.
The use of ground troops would raise the stakes in a war that has so far been fought in the air. It would also make it impossible for Trump to declare victory and move on, as he did with Venezuela after snatching the South American country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has been under pressure to act over the impasse in the Strait of Hormuz, the key world waterway for oil, which has been paralyzed by Iranian missile attacks.
The U.S. death toll is also mounting, with six more U.S. deaths confirmed on Friday after a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq.
