Washington Sends 9,000 Troops to Middle East Amid Preparations for Possible Confrontation with Iran
Key Facts
The United States is preparing for the possibility of resuming major combat operations against Iran, sending a group of ships carrying about 9,000 troops to the Middle East and returning bombers from a British base to their home bases. A U.S. official told The Associated Press that the forces heading to the region were moving as President Donald Trump considers his next step on Iran. The agency reported that, days before Axios published its report, the Pentagon directed U.S. Central Command to complete preparations for major operations. But the directive set no date for strikes, and Trump had not made a final decision, according to Axios. The developments frame the military movements as preparation and deterrence, not an announcement that an attack is beginning.
Separately, the United States withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford and returned them to their bases in the United States, The Associated Press reported. The base, 160 kilometers west of London, had been used by U.S. aircraft to strike Iran during the war. The Pentagon confirmed that all U.S. bombers deployed there had returned to their home bases, without providing further details about the move. Trump told reporters that Washington had moved the bombers after receiving a threat, adding: "We received a threat, and if we're threatened, we'll move them, and that takes the impact away." The president did not say who issued the threat or what form a potential attack might take.
The military preparations are unfolding alongside growing risks to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it would target U.S. bases in the region if Washington continued helping commercial vessels transit the strait, according to The Associated Press. The agency reported that oil tankers continued carrying crude through the passage under U.S. military protection despite a rise in reported attacks. Lloyd's List Intelligence recorded 28 attacks on ships in October, the highest number since the start of the war. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center also said October saw the highest number of reported attacks on commercial shipping since March. Tehran said 7 oil tankers caught fire or were damaged in the strait overnight, while the agency said it could not independently verify those incidents.
On the political front, Israeli sources told ABC News that the U.S. and Israeli militaries had prepared plans to resume joint strikes in the weeks ahead. The sources said the strikes were likely to come after the U.S. midterm elections, pointing to Trump's reluctance in recent days to add to disruption in oil markets during the final days of the campaign. On October 8, Trump said the United States would not attack Iran before the November 3 election. Those remarks remain separate from the military planning described by the Israeli sources, and the Pentagon directive included no specific date and did not settle the president's decision. The Associated Press said Iran was still offering to fully reopen the strait within a week if Washington met its conditions, and that Trump rejected the proposal the previous month, while both sides acknowledged that indirect contacts were continuing.
Expected movements include the arrival in the region in late October of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, thousands of troops aboard it and accompanying ships, according to U.S. officials cited by The Associated Press. The deployment is part of a military buildup as Trump weighs his options on Iran. Meanwhile, a United Nations spokesman urged that commercial ships not be targeted and that diplomacy between Washington and Tehran resume to reopen the strait. The spokesman said, "Commercial ships must not be the target of any attack," and called for diplomacy. U.S. officials have not set a confirmed arrival date for the aircraft carrier, while oil tankers continue to transit the strait under U.S. military protection.