US readies 3,000 additional troops for Iran war: What to know
The deployment of US Army paratroopers could give the Trump administration additional options to escalate the war against Iran, including the potential seizure of strategically important terrain.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is preparing to order elements of a brigade combat team of from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East as President Donald Trump weighs military options for ground operations on Iranian territory, Al-Monitor has learned.
The prepare-to-deploy orders for the 82nd’s Immediate Response Force come as roughly 2,500 US Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit are also en route to the region aboard the USS Tripoli from the Pacific.
Some 50,000 US military personnel were already participating in the US-Israel-Iran war before these deployments were assigned, the Pentagon’s top commander for the region, US Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, has said.
The deployment of parts of the 82nd’s quick-reaction force out of Fort Bragg will include the division’s headquarters element, led by US Army Maj. Gen. Brandon Tegtmeier, Fox News reported. Al-Monitor has not confirmed whether Tegtmeier’s headquarters element will join the deployment.
