The Trump administration is looking into sending as many as 14,000 more troops, as well as dozens more ships and other equipment, to the Middle East in the face of a growing threat from Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported.
U.S. officials told the Journal that President Trump could decide on such a force increase — which would double the number of U.S. military personnel in the region — as soon as this month. A smaller U.S. deployment could also happen, the officials said.
The administration began increasing numbers of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf in May, when Trump said he would deploy roughly 1,500 troops, a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to counter Iran’s influence there.
A month later the Pentagon also announced that it would deploy 1,000 more troops to the same area to address “air, naval, and ground-based threats” in the region.
The announcement was followed quickly by the shooting down of a Navy drone over the Strait of Hormuz in what the Pentagon called an “unprovoked attack,” from Iran.
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