Washington: President Donald Trump’s administration is considering deploying thousands of US troops to bolster its Middle East operation as the US military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, a US official and three people familiar with the matter said.
The deployments could help give Trump additional options as he weighs expanding US operations, with the Iran war in its third week.
Those options include ensuring safe passage for oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a mission that would be accomplished primarily through air and naval forces, the sources said. But securing the strait could also mean stationing US troops on Iran’s coast, four sources, including two US officials, said.
Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about military planning.
The Trump administration has also discussed options to send ground forces to Iran’s Kharg Island, the hub for 90% of Iran’s oil exports, the three people familiar with the matter and three US officials said. One of the officials said that such an operation would be very dangerous. Iran has the ability to reach the island with missiles and drones.
The United States launched strikes against military targets on the island on March 13, and Trump has threatened to hit its critical oil infrastructure as well. However, given its vital role in Iran’s economy, controlling the island is likely to be seen as a better option than destroying it, military experts say.
Any use of US ground troops – even for a limited mission – could pose significant political risks for Trump, given the low US public support for the Iran campaign and Trump’s own campaign promises to avoid US involvement in new conflicts in the Middle East.
Trump administration officials have also discussed the possibility of deploying U.S. forces to secure Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
The sources did not believe a deployment of ground forces anywhere in Iran was imminent, but declined to discuss the specifics of US operational planning. Experts say the task of securing Iran’s uranium reserves would be too complex and dangerous, even for US special operations forces.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “There has been no decision to send ground troops at this time, but President Trump is wisely keeping all options open to him.
“The president is focused on achieving all of the stated objectives of Operation Epic Fury: to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capability, to destroy their navy, to ensure that their terrorist proxies cannot destabilize the region, and to ensure that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”
Asked Thursday if he intended to deploy more troops to the region, Trump told reporters that he wasn’t deploying troops “everywhere” but that if he did, he wouldn’t tell reporters.
The Pentagon declined to comment.
The discussions come as the US military continues to attack Iran’s navy, its missile and drone stockpiles and its defense industry.
The United States has carried out more than 7,800 strikes since the war began on February 28 and has damaged or destroyed more than 120 Iranian vessels so far, according to a fact sheet released Wednesday by US Central Command, which oversees about 50,000 US troops in the Middle East.
American casualties
Trump has said his goals go beyond degrading Iran’s military capabilities and could include securing safe passage through the Strait and preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Ground forces can help expand his options to address those goals, but carry considerable risk. Even without any direct conflict in Iran, 13 U.S. troops have been killed so far in the war and about 200 wounded, though the vast majority of injuries have been minor, the U.S. military says.
For years, Trump has criticized his predecessors for getting involved in conflicts and has vowed to keep the United States out of foreign wars. But recently he has refused to rule out “boots on the ground” in Iran.
A senior White House official told Reuters that Trump has various options for buying Iran’s nuclear material, but has not decided how to proceed. “Of course there are ways it can be taken,” the official said, adding: “He hasn’t made a decision yet.”
In written testimony to lawmakers on Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Iran’s nuclear enrichment program was wiped out by the June strikes and the entrances to those underground facilities were “buried and sealed with cement.”
The sources said discussions on US reinforcements go beyond the arrival of an amphibious ready group next week in the Middle East, with an attached Marine Expeditionary Unit comprising more than 2,000 Marines.
But one of the sources noted that the US military was losing a significant number of forces with the decision to send the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford to Greece for maintenance after a fire on board the ship.
Trump has also wavered on whether the US should secure the Strait of Hormuz.
After initially saying the US Navy could escort the ships, he called on other countries to help open the main waterway. Trump on Wednesday also considered simply leaving.
“I wonder what would happen if we ‘finish’ what is left of the Iranian Terror State and let the countries that use it, not us, be in charge of the so-called ‘Strait?'” Trump posted on Truth Social.
